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H-CAHPS Survey Vendor Authorization

Hospitals that will be using a survey vendor or a hospital administering HCAHPS for multiple sites to submit their HCAHPS data must first authorize the survey vendor or multi-site hospital before their data can be successfully submitted via the QualityNet Secure Portal. Survey vendors should work closely with their hospital clients, who are unfamiliar with the QualityNet Secure Portal, to complete the authorization at least 90 days prior to the data submission deadline. The “Hospital: Inpatient Patient Satisfaction” link is displayed on the secure home page of QualityNet under the “Authorize Vendors to Submit Data” task group for hospital users who have been assigned the HCAHPS Vendor Auth role.

If a survey vendor attempts to submit the hospital’s survey data without authorization, the data will be rejected by the data warehouse. The survey vendor will need to contact the hospital about the authorization, and re-submit the data once authorization is obtained. Survey vendor authorization takes effect immediately once the survey vendor authorization has been successfully submitted via the QualityNet Secure Portal.

Authorizing a New H-CAHPS Survey Vendor

Hospitals must use the self-serve feature on the QualityNet secure pages to authorize their HCAHPS Survey vendors. Hospitals may select from a list of approved survey vendors, and will then need to enter Transmission and Discharge Dates. The definitions of the Transmission and Discharge Start and End Dates are as follows:

  • The Data Submission Start Date represents the first calendar day the survey vendor is authorized to submit data on a hospital’s behalf. It defaults to the current date.
  • The Data Submission End Date can be completed with the last date the hospital wishes the survey vendor to submit data on their behalf. However, it is strongly recommended that this field be left blank.
  • The Discharge Start Quarter and Start Year represent the first quarter and year the survey vendor has been contracted to work and from which eligible discharges will be sampled for surveying
  • The Discharge End Quarter and End Year can be completed on the last day of the last month the hospital wishes the survey vendor to sample from eligible discharges for the purpose of administering the survey. However, it is strongly recommended that this field be left blank.

Switching Survey Vendors

Hospitals that choose to switch from one survey vendor to another can only do so at the beginning of a calendar quarter. Survey vendors should work closely with their hospital clients, who are unfamiliar with the QualityNet Secure Portal, to complete the authorization at least 90 days prior to the data submission deadline. In order to switch from one survey vendor to another, a QualityNet user with the HCAHPS Vendor Auth role (ask your Security Administrator to make changes to your QualityNet account if you do not have this role) must enter or change the Transmission and Discharge End Dates associated with the current survey vendor before they can authorize the new survey vendor. The following steps must be completed before a new survey vendor can be successfully authorized:

  1. For the current survey vendor, the Submission End Date should be the last day for which the current survey vendor will be submitting data on the hospital’s behalf

    Note: This will be the last date the HQR system will allow this vendor to upload. Make sure to provide the survey vendor with enough time to submit the data from this quarter. For example, if the survey vendor is authorized to submit 3Q22 data, the survey vendor must have a Submission End Date AFTER the submission deadline for that quarter (which is projected to be January 4, 2023 followed by the Review and Correct Period that will run until January 11, 2023). Therefore, the Submission End Date for this example should be no earlier than January 12, 2023.

  2. In the current survey vendor’s account, the Discharge End Quarter and End Year should be the last quarter and year the hospital will allow the current survey vendor to sample from eligible discharges

    Note: Note: The Discharge End Quarter and End Year is the last quarter and year the current survey vendor is under contract to collect survey data on behalf of the hospital. If the survey vendor is under contract only until the end of 3Q22, then the current survey vendor’s Discharge End Quarter would be Q3 and the Discharge End Year would be 2022. The new survey vendor should have a Discharge Start Quarter of Q4 and Discharge Start Year of 2022. The Discharge End Quarter and End Year of the existing vendor CANNOT overlap with the Discharge Start Quarter and Start Year of the new survey vendor.

  3. The new survey vendor’s Submission Start Date must be the first day that this survey vendor will submit data for the hospital

    Note: The Submission Start Date of the new survey vendor CAN overlap the Submission End Date of the former survey vendor. Due to the lead time between discharge quarters and submission deadlines, the new survey vendor will need the ability to begin submission of their collected HCAHPS data before the previous survey vendor has completed data submission. For example, if 3Q22 is the last quarter the expiring survey vendor can collect and submit data, the expiring survey vendor’s submission deadline should be no earlier than January 12, 2023. However, the new survey vendor for 4Q22 should be allowed to begin HCAHPS Survey administration on October 1, 2022, the beginning of fourth quarter 2022. Therefore, the new survey vendor should have a Submission Start Date of October 1, 2022.
  4. The new survey vendor’s Submission End Date can be completed with the last date that the hospital wishes the survey vendor to submit data on their behalf. However, it is strongly recommended that this field be left blank by checking the box “Do not include an end date.”
  5. The new survey vendor should be given a Discharge Start Quarter and Start Year corresponding with the first quarter and year for which the new survey vendor will be collecting data for the hospital

    Note: The Discharge Start Quarter and Start Year of the new survey vendor CANNOT overlap with the DISCHARGE END QUARTER AND END YEAR of the previous survey vendor.
  6. The new survey vendor’s Discharge End Quarter and End Year should be the last quarter and year that the hospital contracts with the new survey vendor to collect data for the hospital. However, it is strongly recommended that this field be left blank by checking the box “Do not include an end date.”