This blog post was written by our guest blogger Megan O’Donnell, Manager at Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) Healthcare Division. Improving CAHPS response rates is top of mind for many of our clients.  In our experience, Telephone Only and Mixed modes of survey administration result in higher response rates than Mail Only mode. The following Read more

The CAHPS® Hospice survey team recently conditionally approved a number of vendors to administer the CAHPS® Hospice survey. Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) was recently named one of those vendors that will attend a mandatory training webinar session on October 7, 2014. All participating vendors must achieve a passing score on a training quiz administered upon the Read more

If you are looking to choose a CAHPS® for ACOs survey vendor, your healthcare organization has until September 22nd, 2014 to do so. Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services granted full approval to 16 CAHPS for ACOs survey vendors across the country in which Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) is named. If you have Read more

What does the healthcare industry have in common with the financial industry? Answer: HIPAA policies The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enacted in 1996 is no longer affecting just the healthcare industry and its business associates. In fact, many industries have started to adopt policies similar to HIPAA in order to keep consumer Read more

With the growth of patient-centered medical homes (PCMH) and the advent of payment reform, care managers are expected to serve an increasing role in managing high risk patients. According to a recent Healthcare Intelligence Network survey care managers in patient-centered medical homes have grown by 20% in the last two years alone. Long-term transformation and Read more

Accountable Care Organizations participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) will need to select a certified vendor for the ACO CAHPS survey by September 22, 2014 for the 2014 survey administration. Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) has been granted approval as a CAHPS for ACOs survey vendor for the 2014 survey administration. Do you need Read more

This blog post was written by our guest blogger Michele Treinin, Healthcare Analyst at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS). Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS) is pleased to announce that it has received conditional approval from the Center of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) for Read more

This blog post was taken from the latest Quality Care Courier produced by RMS Healthcare. As the Director of Healthcare for RMS, I regularly meet with practices that are eager to take the journey to become PCMH recognized and to truly embody the principles in providing quality driven patient care. Very often when I introduce PCMH concepts and standards, practice staff find themselves excited Read more

This blog post was written by our guest blogger Karen Joncas, Coordinator of Healthcare Transformation at Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) and the RMS Healthcare Division. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) opened its public comment period on new standards for ambulatory care clinics expected to be released in March 2015. The new NCQA Read more

As physician practices embark on the journey to transform to Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMH), questions that are often in the forefront if the “transformation” team’s mind is how are “we” going to get there, and more importantly, what is it going to take for the team to get there?  These can be very daunting questions Read more