OR Manager - November 2018 - 29

AMBULATORY
SURGERY CENTERS
Why isn't OAS CAHPS ready
for mandatory implementation?
The survey is too long.
The survey should be distributed online
as well as by phone or mail.
The cost to implement the survey is
too high.
These are the concerns voiced by
ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leaders
that prompted the delay in mandatory
implementation of the Consumer
Assessment of Healthcare Providers
and Systems Outpatient and Ambulatory
Surgery Survey (OAS CAHPS) by
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS).
Mandatory implementation was expected
this fall in CMS-certified ASCs. But
CMS chose to resolve the above issues
first, according to CMS. Sources would not
say if they anticipated OAS CAHPS would
be mandatory after the next round of annual
rulemaking in 2019, the only way in
which the rule can be changed.
For now, the implementation of OAS
CAHPS remains voluntary.
Currently only about one-fifth of more
than 6,000 ASCs voluntarily participate
in OAS CAHPS, CMS sources say.
Length. The survey now consists of
37 required questions. ASCs are free
to add up to 15 additional questions.
CMS is examining whether some of the
questions can be eliminated and still
enable the survey to elicit the soughtwill
increase the overall cost of survey
implementation. " Costs are also likely
to change once CMS revamps its requirements
for the survey.
Shimek adds that implementation time
varies, but in general takes 3 to 4 months.
Here are some recommended steps
for choosing a vendor:
* Get cost estimates from three vendors.
* Ensure vendors have experience
with ASCs.
* Inquire about vendor's return rates
and monthly sample size, which affects
cost.
www.ormanager.com
after information about the quality of the
ASC experience.
Mode of distribution. CMS is currently
working on a web mode to see if it
is a feasible means of distribution, in light
of the concern that some older people may
not have Internet access. Once that work is
completed, a decision can be made about
web distribution, CMS sources tell OR
Manager. The ASC industry also wants the
option of distributing the surveys onsite.
Cost. Shortening the survey and allowing
a web version of OAS CAHPS should
make it less expensive to implement,
CMS says.
Survey data. Survey results from the
first year of full OAS CAHPS implementation
for 2017 are available on the CMS
website. But ASCs are not required to
make survey results public while OAS
CAHPS remains voluntary.
The survey results are currently not in a
format that consumers can use. Once the
survey and public reporting become mandatory,
a more consumer-friendly version
of the results will be on the CMS website.
Once OAS CAHPS is mandatory, it will
be the first standardized survey instrument
to assess patient experience at ASCs and
hospital outpatient surgery departments.
Source: Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services.
* Ascertain if the vendor has experience
with the ASC's patient-accounting system.
*
Request a free quarter to see how
the survey implementation works.
* Select a designated employee to
work with the vendor.
* Ask the vendor to do a demonstration
of the survey.
* Ask how many reports the vendor
will issue to the ASC and when.
Continued on page 31
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