Caregiver surveying around Hospice care is frankly an area that we all wish didn’t exist. But it’s just a reality that this care is an unfortunate part of life’s journey for some. And since this care thankfully exists, it becomes vital to ensure you’re meeting – and exceeding – the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) standards, as well as your own operational standards.

At RMS, we have built a team of Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and Systems (CAHPS^®) support over our decades-long survey administration journey that helps facilities exceed expectations when it comes to this requirement.

In this article, we’ll cover what the CAHPS Hospice Survey is, what makes this survey different from the other CAHPS lines, and important factors in choosing your survey vendor, all to ensure that your facility is receiving enough survey responses to not only understand feedback but implement impactful and sustainable change.

What Is The CAHPS Hospice Survey?

The official nationwide launch of the CAHPS Hospice Survey was in 2015 to measure caretaker experiences to address palliative and end-of-life care. CMS made these mandatory for facilities – forever transforming the level of care as a regulatory requirement.

This survey cover these key quality measurement areas:

•   Communication With Family
•   Getting Timely Help
•   Help for Pain and Symptoms
•   Emotional and Spiritual Support
•   Care Preferences
•   Training Family to Care for Patient
•   Treating Patient With Respect
•   Rating of this Hospice
•   Willing to Recommend This Hospice

According to CMS, all Medicare-certified hospices are required to submit Hospice CAHPS survey data. However, there are two exemptions for Hospice CAHPS reporting: newness exemption and size exemption and a newness exemption. If you’re new to this surveying and not sure where you land, or simply need a refresher, CMS covers what you need to know in detail.

What’s Important When Choosing Your CAHPS Hospice Survey Vendor?

Across CMS, there are 11 different CAHPS survey lines. And while that makes RMS well-versed in these types of mandated surveys, the Hospice CAHPS survey differs in one significant way – the audience.

Now, after navigating this loss, the caregiver or family member will receive a phone call and/or email to assess their perception of care provided.

The way the survey for your facility is administered matters a great deal. We know a lot of questions may run through your mind, such as:

• Is this insensitive to now ask our former patients’ caregiver for feedback?
• Will they (the caregiver) even respond to the survey?
• Why is obtaining this information important for our facility?
• What if our caregivers are upset when receiving and completing the survey? How do we handle this?

The team at RMS is highly skilled, handling the questions you’re asking and easing your survey administration worries. Here are some of the best practices that we’ve learned and implemented.

3 Benefits Of Partnering With RMS For Your Surveys

#1 Sensitivity Training For Surveyors

Because of the nature of this survey, a sensitivity aspect when it comes to the phone-mode is essential. Here at RMS, we conduct sensitivity training for all of our (in-house) phone telesurveyors at the time of hire and thereafter. 

The purpose of this training is to help telesurveyors begin to grasp the grief process to be better positioned while speaking with family caregivers.

RMS is uniquely positioned in that the staff on our team are also hospice volunteers providing insights on the importance of the manner. Our management leaders have personal ties to the hospice experience and are fully aware of the manner in which this survey content is administered – greeting, tone, patience, compassion and empathy while adhering to CMS survey administration requirements.  – matter.

#2 Verified Caller ID – For Mixed Mode and Phone Mode Surveying

This probably comes as no surprise but getting the right person on the phone can be a huge barrier – in any industry. And the same is true for getting the caregiver to the phone to complete the CAHPS Hospice survey. 

The good news is, there are ways to begin to overcome this.

Most people with mobile phones avoid answering from phone numbers that are not identified. Because of this, RMS uses “Branded Caller ID,” whereby the phone number includes a verification message that this is a legitimate healthcare call and not spam. Since its inception, this new service has allowed RMS to significantly increase the phone answer rate. A service that verifies mobile calls is vital to increasing your organization’s survey response rate.

#3 DATA Portal and Reporting

Analyzing and evaluating the feedback data provided by caregivers is most important to helping your hospice organization optimize its care delivery operations. 

Survey results need to be reviewed by the hospice administrative team at least quarterly, and areas of opportunities should be identified and incorporated into an action plan. The RMS team provides analysts and consultants that can assist with understanding the data and help develop action strategies. 

Review of the survey findings either through a “real-time” portal or regular report is “must do” activity for the organization’s quality team.

Is It Time To Reevaluate Your CAHPS Hospice Survey Vendor and Response Rates?

We know switching survey vendors may seem like a process – and it can be – but if you have any concerns about a lack of sensitivity or low survey response rates, it might be time to evaluate your options.

To work towards achieving increased caregiver engagement, reach out to the team at RMS, or Christine Howard directly, to learn more about the collateral we provide for your facility and what the sensitivity training entails.