Hospitals that will be using a survey vendor to submit their HCAHPS data must first authorize the survey vendor before their data can be successfully submitted via the HQR system. Survey vendors should work closely with their hospital clients, who are unfamiliar with HQR, to complete the authorization at least 90 days prior to the data submission deadline. Questions pertaining to vendor authorization in the HQR system should be directed towards the QualityNet Help Desk via telephone (1-866-288-8912) or email (qnetsupport@cms.hhs.gov). Please keep the HCAHPS Project Team informed of any HCAHPS-related QualityNet tickets by emailing HCAHPS Technical Assistance at hcahps@hsag.com and including the Help Desk ticket number(s).
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 must contact the hospital about the authorization and re-submit the data once authorization has been obtained. Survey vendor authorization takes effect immediately once the survey vendor authorization has been successfully submitted via the Vendor Management system on HQR.
Hospitals must use the Vendor Management System on HQR to authorize their HCAHPS Survey vendors. After logging into HQR with a HARP ID, hospitals may navigate to the Vendor Management System by clicking on “Administration” from the menu, and selecting “Vendor Management.” From the Vendor Management page, hospitals can click on “Add Vendor” and search for the desired vendor by organization name or Vendor ID. Hospitals can then select from a list of approved survey vendors and will be taken to an “Assign Access” page. Hospitals must select “Add” for the desired measure program to grant vendor access. For HCAHPS, hospitals must add the correct permissions for “HCAHPS” measure access. A pop-up will appear, and hospitals may change the access options from “No Access” to “Upload/Edit.” Hospitals will also need to enter correct information for the Discharge Quarters and Submission Date fields. The definitions of the Discharge Quarters and Submission Start and End Dates are as follows:
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 with the last quarter and year the hospital wishes the survey vendor to sample from eligible discharges for the purpose of administering the survey. However, it is strongly recommended that these fields be left blank by checking the box “Do not include an end date.”
he Submission Start Date (formerly the Transmission Start Date) represents the first calendar day the survey vendor is authorized to submit data on a hospital’s behalf
he Submission End Date (formerly the Transmission 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 by checking the box “Do not include an end date.”
Hospitals that choose to switch from one approved 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 HQR platform, to complete the authorization at least 90 days prior to the data submission deadline. Questions pertaining to switching survey vendors in the HQR system should be directed towards the QualityNet Help Desk via telephone (1-866-288-8912) or email (qnetsupport@cms.hhs.gov). Please keep the HCAHPS Project Team informed of any HCAHPS related QualityNet tickets by emailing HCAHPS Technical Assistance at hcahps@hsag.com and including the Help Desk ticket number(s).
In order to switch from one approved survey vendor to another, an HQR user should access the Vendor Management feature and enter or change the Submission End Date, Discharge End Quarter and End Year associated with the current survey vendor. The following steps must be completed before a new survey vendor can be successfully authorized:
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 3Q24 data, the survey vendor must have a Submission End Date AFTER the submission deadline for that quarter (which is projected to be January 2, 2025 followed by the Review and Correct Period that will run until January 9, 2025). Therefore, the Submission End Date for this example should be no earlier than January 10, 2025.
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: 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 3Q24, then the current survey vendor’s Discharge End Quarter would be Q3 and the Discharge End Year would be 2024. The new survey vendor should have a Discharge Start Quarter of Q4 and Discharge Start Year of 2024. 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.
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 3Q24 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 10, 2025. However, the new survey vendor for 4Q24 should be allowed to begin HCAHPS Survey administration on October 1, 2024, the beginning of fourth quarter 2024>. Therefore, the new survey vendor should have a Submission Start Date of October 1, 2024.
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.”
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.