FieldsHealthcareResearch is required to upload your survey data to CMS quarterly. CMS will not accept your survey data from FieldsHealthcareResearch until you have specified FieldsHealthcareResearch, Inc. as the survey vendor that is allowed to upload your survey data.

Once a home health agency registers for credentials to access the private links on the HH-CAHPS® Web site, the HH-CAHPS® web system immediately issues user credentials (a username and password) which are sent to the HHA via an email message. The credentials are sent to the HHA within seconds after the HHA submits the online registration form.  If you have not yet Registered for Login Credentials, you will have to complete the online Registration Form at https://homehealthcahps.org.

NOTE: IN THIS CASE "ADMINISTRATOR" SHOULD BE YOUR PRIMARY CONTACT FOR HH-CAHPS® – THE PERSON WHO WILL BE MOST INVOLVED AT YOUR AGENCY, NOT NECESSARILY THE Administrator OF YOUR AGENCY.

When you receive the email from CMS, and you are able to login to the CMS HH-CAHPS website, you can proceed with the process of authorizing a vendor, described below.
 

How to Perform HHA HH-CAHPS® Survey Vendor Authorization Functions

1. In the far right of the gray bar on the CMS HH-CAHPS site:https://homehealthcahps.org
2. click on 'For HHAs'
3. Click on 'Authorize a Vendor', under the 'For HHA's' menu option in the top right corner of the page.

The online Vendor Authorization Form performs the following four functions.

• Authorize a vendor for an HHA for which a vendor has never been authorized.
• Change the start or end date for the current vendor.
• Change/switch to a different HH-CAHPS® Survey vendor.
• View the current authorization status.

A brief description and the steps in each of these functions are provided below. Note that an automatic e-mail will be sent to the HHA’s HH-CAHPS® Survey Administrator confirming that the vendor authorization has been completed immediately after that authorization has been submitted.

1. To Authorize a Vendor for an HHA for the First Time HHAs should select this function for one or more HHAs for which an HH-CAHPS® Survey vendor has never been authorized. To authorize a vendor for one or more HHAs for the first time, carry out the steps below:

• Select your vendor from the drop-down list.
• Select the “Start Date,” which is the first day of the first quarter for which the vendor is being authorized to submit HH-CAHPS® Survey data.
• Leave the End Date field blank, unless you know that you will be switching to a different vendor at that time.
• Select the home health agency/agencies to which this vendor authorization applies.
• Click the “Submit” button.

2. To Change the Date of an Existing HH-CAHPS® Vendor Authorization To carry out this function, follow the steps below:

• Select the new Start or End date for your existing vendor authorization.
• Select the home health agency/agencies to which this authorization applies.
• Click the “Submit” button.

3. To Switch/Change to a Different HH-CAHPS® Vendor To change your authorized vendor, follow these steps:

• Select the “Change the start/end date for an existing vendor authorization” from the “Select Actions” drop down list.
• Select the correct “End Date” for your current authorized vendor. NOTE: This end date cannot overlap with the “start date” of the new vendor you are switching to.
• Click on the “Submit” button.
• Next, select the “Change/switch to a different vendor” from the “Select Actions” drop down list.
• Select your new authorized vendor from the vendor drop down list.
• Select the correct Start Date and if applicable End Date for your new vendor.
• Select the home health agency/agencies to which the authorization applies.
• Click the “Submit” button

4. View current authorization status

You can use this function to check all of your current vendor authorizations, including Start and End dates, for all of the HHAs for which you serve as the HH-CAHPS® Survey Administrator (SA) or Backup SA.

To carry out this function, simply choose the “View Current Authorizations” from the “Select Actions” drop down list. 

Note: Part of the process of registering for login credentials requires you to download a Consent Form, have it Notarized, and mail it to CMS. You don’t have to finish this part of the process in order to get your email with your login information from CMS.