CMS-10102 HCAHPS Justification Non-Sub Change

Justification for changes to the Pain Management questions in the HCAHPS Survey

CMS is seeking to make two minor revisions to the HCAHPS Survey, OMB Approved 0938-0981.

1. Due to concerns raised by some stakeholders that the three pain management questions in the HCAHPS Survey encourage overprescribing of opioids, CMS proposed in the FY 2019 Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule to replace these questions with three questions that focus on communication about pain during the hospital stay. The replacement questions closely mirror the structure and style of the existing pain management questions; however, the new questions address how providers communicate with patients about pain and remove any ambiguities in the wording or intent of the questions. The new pain management questions will be administered and data collected in exactly the same manner as the current pain management questions; there will no changes to HCAHPS patient eligibility or exclusion criteria. This change will not increase the length of the survey or the time needed to complete the survey, thus will not increase the information collection burden.

2. In addition, we would like to update the Mail Stop address in the OMB PRA Language for the HCAHPS Survey.