CAHPS_Hospice_Survey_Technical_Corrections_and_Clarifications

CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

Subsequent to the release of the CAHPS Hospice Survey Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
(QAG V1.0), it has been determined that there are specific content items that require correction,
addition and/or further clarification. These items are identified below:
 IX. Data Coding and Data File Preparation Chapter Revisions
• Added code “6 – Ineligible: Never Involved in Decedent Care” to the
coding protocols listed below
o 3. Survey Results Record, page 75
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CURRENT: The Survey Results Record is required only when “Final Survey
Status” in the Decedent/Caregiver Administrative Record is coded “1 –
Completed Survey” or “7 – Non-Response: Break-off.”
REVISED: The Survey Results Record is required only when “Final Survey
Status” in the Decedent/Caregiver Administrative Record is coded “1 –
Completed Survey,” “6 – Ineligible: Never Involved in Decedent Care” or “7
– Non-response: Break-off.”
CURRENT: Note: The Survey Results Record is not required for “Final
Survey Status” of anything other than “1 – Completed survey” or “7 – NonResponse: Break-off,” however, if the Survey Results Record is included,
then all fields must have a valid value.
REVISED: Note: The Survey Results Record is not required for “Final
Survey Status” of anything other than “1 – Completed Survey,” “6 –
Ineligible: Never Involved in Decedent Care” or “7 – Non-Response: Breakoff,” however, if the Survey Results Record is included, then all fields must
have a valid value.

o Decedent/Caregiver Administrative Record, page 78
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CURRENT: The “Survey Completion Mode” field must be submitted if the
“Survey Mode” in the Header Record is “3 – Mixed mode” and the “Final
Survey Status” is “1 – Completed survey” or “7 – Non-response: Break off.”
REVISED: The “Survey Completion Mode” field must be submitted if the
“Survey Mode” in the Header Record is “3 – Mixed mode” and the “Final
Survey Status” is “1 – Completed Survey,” “6 – Ineligible: Never Involved in
Decedent Care” or “7 – Non-response: Break-off.”

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November 2014

CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

o Decedent/Caregiver Administrative Record, page 81
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CURRENT: The “Supplemental Questions Count” field must be submitted
when the “Final Survey Status is “1 – Completed survey” or “7 – NonResponse: Break off.” The value submitted is the count of supplemental
questions included in the survey for the given decedent/caregiver (whether or
not the supplemental questions were asked/responded to).
‒ REVISED: The “Supplemental Questions Count” field must be submitted
when the “Final Survey Status" is “1 – Completed Survey,” “6 – Ineligible:
Never Involved in Decedent Care” or “7 – Non-Response: Break-off.” The
value submitted is the count of supplemental questions included in the survey
for the given decedent/caregiver (whether or not the supplemental questions
were asked/responded to).
o Survey Results Record, page 81
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CURRENT: All survey questions must have a valid value. For “Final Survey
Status” of “1 – Completed survey” or “7 – Non-Response: Break-off,” code
missing answers as “M – Missing/Don’t Know” or “88 – Not Applicable.”
REVISED: All survey questions must have a valid value. For “Final Survey
Status” of “1 – Completed Survey,” “6 – Ineligible: Never Involved in
Decedent Care” or “7 – Non-Response: Break-off,” code missing answers as
“ M – Missing/Don’t Know” or “88 – Not Applicable.”

Replaced “too few Core questions” with “too few applicable to all (ATA)
questions” for Disposition of Survey Codes, 7 Non-response: Break-off,
page 83
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CURRENT: Survey vendors assign a “Final Survey Status” code of “7 –
Non-response: Break-off” when a caregiver provides a response to at least
one CAHPS Hospice Survey Core question, but answered too few Core
questions to meet the criteria for a completed survey.
REVISED: Survey vendors assign a “Final Survey Status” code of “7 – Nonresponse: Break-off” when a caregiver provides a response to at least one
CAHPS Hospice Survey Core question, but answered too few applicable to
all (ATA) questions to meet the criteria for a completed survey.

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November 2014

CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

 X. Data Submission Chapter Revision
• Revised the survey file naming convention as shown below
o Survey File Submission Naming Convention, pages 90-91
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CURRENT: Vendorname.submissionN.mmddyy.txt.pgp
Where
N = number within day to count the number of submissions; can be any
number of characters. If more than one submission is made on the same
day this number must be different for each submitted file.
mm = number of month of submission (justify leading zero)
dd = day of the month of submission (justify leading zero)
yy = 2 digit year of submission
Example: XYZResearch.submission1.051514.txt.pgp

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REVISED: Vendorname.hospiceCCN.N.mmddyy.xml.pgp
Where
Vendorname = name of Vendor
HospiceCCN = 6 digit Hospice CMS Certification Number
N = number to identify the count of submissions; can be any number of
characters. If more than one submission is made on the same day this
number must be different for each submitted file.
mm = number of month of submission (justify leading zero)
dd = day of the month of submission (justify leading zero)
yy = 2 digit year of submission
Example: XYZResearch.123456.1.051515.xml.pgp

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CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

 CAHPS Hospice Survey Appendix D
• Provided clarification to the meaning of “Facility Name”
o Data Element “Facility Name,” page 1
Data Element

Facility Name

Length

100

Value Labels and Use

Name of hospice, inpatient or nursing
home facility, if applicable (optional)

Required for
Data
Submission
No

o A caregiver may associate their loved one’s care with the facility where hospice
care has received, rather than the actual name of the hospice organization.
Therefore, “Facility Name” refers to the name of the facility/organization where
care was. For example, if the decedent received care from Hospice ABC while in
facility XYZ, the CAHPS Hospice Survey Sample File includes an option to
provide Facility XYZ as the “Facility Name.”
o The “Facility Name” is also an optional field for CAHPS Hospice Survey data
submission file (See Appendix E, XML File Specifications)
 CAHPS Hospice Survey Appendix E
• Revised several items in the CAHPS Hospice Survey XML File
Specification V1.0
o Added code “6 – Ineligible: Never Involved in Decedent Care” to the
coding protocols listed below
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Instructions, page 1
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CURRENT: Survey results records are not required for a valid data
submission but if survey results are included, then all answers must have
an entry. Survey results records are required if the final is
"1 - Completed survey" or "7 - Non-response: Break off".
REVISED: Survey results records are not required for a valid data
submission but if survey results are included, then all answers must have
an entry. Survey results records are required if the final is
“1 – Completed Survey,” “6 – Ineligible: Never Involved in Decedent
Care” or “7 – Non-response: Break-off.”

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November 2014

CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

o Valid Values examples have been revised in the items below
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XML Element: live-discharges, page 3
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XML Element: no-publicity, page 3
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CURRENT: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 150
REVISED: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 5

CURRENT: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 150
REVISED: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 1

XML Element: number-ineligible, page 4
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CURRENT: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 650
REVISED: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 5

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CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

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XML Element: sample-size, page 4
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CURRENT: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 600
REVISED: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This header element should only
occur once per file.
Example: 145

XML Element: location-home, page 15
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CURRENT: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This caregiver response data element
should only occur once per caregiver. If the check box for 'Home' is
selected, enter value '1' for this data element
If the check box for 'Home' is not selected (and at least one other check
box for race is selected), enter value '0' for this data element
If none of the check boxes for this question are selected on the survey,
enter the value 'M' for this data element and for all other data elements
Example: 0
REVISED: Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the
opening tag but with a forward slash. This caregiver response data element
should only occur once per caregiver. If the check box for 'Home' is
selected, enter value '1' for this data element.
If the check box for 'Home' is not selected (and at least one other check
box for race is selected), enter value '0' for this data element.
If none of the check boxes for this question are selected on the survey,
enter the value 'M' for this data element and for all other data elements.
Example: 1

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November 2014

CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

o Added XML Element: eligible-sample, page 4

Subelement of
header

Each element must have a closing tag that is the same as the opening tag but with a
forward slash. This header element should only occur once per file.
Example: 145
None Number of survey-eligible decedents/caregivers N/A Numeric 10 Yes
in the sample frame for the month, excluding
those with “Final Survey Status” codes of 3 or
6. Calculated as less the number
of decedents/caregivers with “Final Survey
Status” codes of “3 – Ineligible: Not in Eligible
Population” and “6 – Ineligible: Never
Involved in Decedent Care.”
o Added additional guidance in Valid Values column for the following
items
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XML Element: birth-yr, Valid Values, page 5
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CURRENT: YYYY
YYYY (cannot be 9999)
REVISED: YYYY
YYYY (cannot be 9999)
Use 8888 only if unable to obtain information by the data submission due
date.

XML Element: birth-month, Valid Values, page 5
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CURRENT: MM
MM = (1 - 12)
(cannot be 00, 13 - 99)
REVISED: MM
MM = (1 - 12)
(cannot be 00, 13 - 99)
Use 88 only if unable to obtain information by the data submission due
date.

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CAHPS Hospice Survey
Quality Assurance Guidelines V1.0
Technical Corrections and Clarifications
Revised November 2014

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XML Element: birth-day, Valid Values, page 6
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CURRENT: DD
DD = (1 - 31)
(cannot be 00, 32 - 99)
REVISED: DD
DD = (1 - 31)
(cannot be 00, 32 - 99)
Use 88 only if unable to obtain information by the data submission due
date.

o Revised Data Type for the following item
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XML Element: decedent-primary-diagnosis, Data Type, page 10
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CURRENT: Numeric
REVISED: Alphanumeric Character

 CAHPS Hospice Survey for English and Spanish Mail Surveys
• Instructions: Oval response version (English and Spanish)
o Revised survey instructions to indicate filling in the “circle” rather
than the “square”
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♦

The instructions on page 2 (bullet 3) of the surveys should read as follows:
Answer all the questions by completely filling in the circle to the left of your
answer.
0

♦

Conteste todas las preguntas y llene completamente el círculo que aparece a
la izquierda de la respuesta que usted seleccione.
0

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♦
♦

Yes
No

Yes
No

The instructions on page 2 (bullet 4) of the surveys should read as follows:
To indicate an answer selected was in error, clearly draw a line through the
circle and select another circle.
Si se selecciona una respuesta en error, trazar claramente una línea a través
del círculo y seleccionar otro círculo.
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November 2014