HCAHPS - Technical Specifications Page

HCAHPS Public Reporting Periods

This document indicates which calendar quarters of HCAHPS results will be publicly reported on the Hospital Compare website through March 2010. This document also contains information about which hospitals may suppress the public reporting of their HCAHPS results.

Please Note: The dates of future preview periods and public reporting are estimates based on current timetables and thus are subject to change.

Click here to view the complete HCAHPS Public Reporting Periods document.

Submission of 5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month

Below please find instructions for uploading "5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month" information via My QualityNet using the Online Data Entry Tool or the XML file format for January 2009 patient discharges and forward.

Online Tool

Please note the following:

One header record must be completed for each month that an organization has "5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month."
The NPI element is not required at this time, but may be entered if the information is available.
For "survey mode," select "Mail only."
For "number eligible discharge," enter actual count of eligible discharges for the month.
For "sample size," enter zero
For "sample type," select "Simple Random Sample."

XML File Format

Below is an example of the header record layout that must be submitted for each month that an organization has "5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month."

<header>
<provider-name>Some Hospital</provider-name>
<provider-id>123456</provider-id>
(NPI is not required)
<discharge-yr>2008</discharge-yr>
<discharge-month>1</discharge-month> (for January)
<survey-mode>1</survey-mode > (for Mail only)
<number-eligible-discharge>enter actual count i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5</number-eligible-discharge>
<sample-size>0</sample-size>
<sample-type>1</sample-type> (for Simple Random Sample)
</header>

Please contact HCAHPS Information and Technical Support by email at hcahps@azqio.sdps.org or by telephone at 1-888-884-4007 with any questions.

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Submission of "Zero Cases"

Below please find instructions for uploading "Zero Case" information via My QualityNet using the Online Data Entry Tool or the XML file format for January 2008 patient discharges and forward.

Online Tool

Please note the following:

One header record must be completed for each month that an organization has "Zero Cases."
The NPI element is not required at this time, but may be entered if the information is available.
For "survey mode," select "Mail only."
For "number eligible discharge," and "sample size" enter 0.
For "sample type," select "Simple Random Sample."

XML File Format

Below is an example of the header record layout that must be submitted for each month that an organization has "Zero Cases."

<header>
<provider-name>Some Hospital</provider-name>
<provider-id>123456</provider-id>
(NPI is not required)
<discharge-yr>2008</discharge-yr>
<discharge-month>1</discharge-month> (for January)
<survey-mode>1</survey-mode > (for Mail only)
<number-eligible-discharge>0</number-eligible-discharge>
<sample-size>0</sample-size>
<sample-type>1</sample-type> (for Simple Random Sample)
</header>

Please contact HCAHPS Information and Technical Support by email at hcahps@azqio.sdps.org or by telephone at 1-888-884-4007 with any questions.

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HCAHPS V3.1 Submission of 5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month

Below please find instructions for uploading "5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month" information via My QualityNet using the Online Data Entry Tool or the XML file format for April 2009 patient discharges and forward.

Online Tool

Please note the following:

One header record must be completed for each month that an organization has "5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month."
The NPI element is not required at this time, but may be entered if the information is available.
For "survey mode," select "Mail only."
For "determination of service line," select the method used to determine the patient's eligibility.
For "number eligible discharge," enter actual count of eligible discharges for the month.
For "sample size," enter zero
For "sample type," select "Simple Random Sample."

XML File Format

Below is an example of the header record layout that must be submitted for each month that an organization has "5 or Fewer Eligible HCAHPS Discharges in a Month."

<header>
<provider-name>Some Hospital</provider-name>
<provider-id>123456</provider-id>
(NPI is not required)
<discharge-yr>2009</discharge-yr>
<discharge-month>4</discharge-month> (for April)
<survey-mode>1</survey-mode > (for Mail only)
<determination-of-service-line>1</determination-of-service-line> (for V.26 or V.25 MS-DRG codes)
<number-eligible-discharge>enter actual count i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5</number-eligible-discharge>
<sample-size>0</sample-size>
<sample-type>1</sample-type> (for Simple Random Sample)
</header>

Please contact HCAHPS Information and Technical Support by email at hcahps@azqio.sdps.org or by telephone at 1-888-884-4007 with any questions.

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HCAHPS 3.1 Submission of "Zero Cases"

Below please find instructions for uploading "Zero Case" information via My QualityNet using the Online Data Entry Tool or the XML file format for April 2009 patient discharges and forward.

Online Tool

Please note the following:

One header record must be completed for each month that an organization has "Zero Cases."
The NPI element is not required at this time, but may be entered if the information is available.
For "survey mode," select "Mail only."
For "determination of service line," select "1 – V.26 or V.25 MS-DRG codes."
For "number eligible discharge," and "sample size" enter 0.
For "sample type," select "Simple Random Sample."

XML File Format

Below is an example of the header record layout that must be submitted for each month that an organization has "Zero Cases."

<header>
<provider-name>Some Hospital</provider-name>
<provider-id>123456</provider-id>
(NPI is not required)
<discharge-yr>2009</discharge-yr>
<discharge-month>4</discharge-month> (for April)
<survey-mode>1</survey-mode > (for Mail only)
<determination-of-service-line>1</determination-of-service-line> (for V.26 or V.25 MS-DRG codes)
<number-eligible-discharge>0</number-eligible-discharge>
<sample-size>0</sample-size>
<sample-type>1</sample-type> (for Simple Random Sample)
</header>

Please contact HCAHPS Information and Technical Support by email at hcahps@azqio.sdps.org or by telephone at 1-888-884-4007 with any questions.

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HCAHPS V3.1 Known Issues

Click here to view or download a copy of the HCAHPS V3.1 Known Issues document.

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HCAHPS XML V3.0 Edit Messages

Click here to view or download a copy of the HCAHPS XML V3.0 Edit Messages document.

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XML File Specifications Version 3.1

XML File Specifications Version 3.1 is effective beginning with second quarter 2009 patient discharges.

The HCAHPS 3.1 Warehouse and the updated HCAHPS Online Data Entry Tool have been released. HCAHPS survey data for eligible discharges from April 1, 2009 forward may now be submitted via XML format or the HCAHPS Online Data Entry Tool accessed from My QualityNet.

Click here for the XML File Specifications Version 3.1, the XML File Sample Layout without DSRS Version 3.1 and the XML File Sample Layout with DSRS Version 3.1.

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HCAHPS V3.1 Release Notes

Click here to view or download a copy of the HCAHPS V3.1 Release Notes

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XML File Specifications Version 3.0

XML File Specifications Version 3.0 is effective beginning with patient discharges in 2008.

The HCAHPS 3.0 Warehouse and the updated HCAHPS Online Data Entry Tool have been released. HCAHPS survey data for eligible discharges from First Quarter 2008 and forward (January 1, 2008 and forward) may now be submitted via XML format or the HCAHPS Online Data Entry Tool accessed from QualityNet.

Optional:

The XSD (XML Schema Definition) document describes the structure of the HCAHPS XML file. This document is NOT required to create the HCAHPS XML file; however, it can be used as an additional tool to validate the structure of the HCAHPS XML file. This document is provided as technical information for those who are familiar with an XSD or are more technically oriented. It is not required for creation of the HCAHPS XML file.

Click here for the XML File Specifications Version 3.0.

Click here for the XML File Sample Layout without DSRS Version 3.0.

Click here for the XML File Sample Layout with DSRS Version 3.0.

Click here for the V3.0 Release Notes 1.0.

Click here for the XSD Version 3.0.
Version 3.0.Note: Please change page setup to landscape before printing

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Survey Vendor User Registration in QualityNet

Survey vendors must send their completed My QualityNet registration forms to the QualityNet Help Desk. The QualityNet Help Desk will then verify that the survey vendor submitting the registration forms is part of the list of approved vendors.

If the vendor is on this list, the user(s) requesting to be the QualityNet Administrator at the survey vendor will be approved and officially designated as a registered My QualityNet administrative user(s). Next, the QualityNet Help Desk will send an email containing My QualityNet log-in information to the registered My QualityNet administrative user(s).

The registered My QualityNet Administrator then registers and assigns roles to non-administrative users in their organization. This assignment of roles will allow non-administrative users to gain access to the HCAHPS Data Upload feature and the Submission Reports.

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Survey Vendor Authorization in QualityNet

Hospitals are now able to authorize vendors to submit data on their behalf via My QualityNet.

Hospitals should perform the following steps to authorize their survey vendor to submit their HCAHPS data:

The hospital My QualityNet Administrator assigns the HCAHPS Vendor Authorization role to other hospital administrators and/or non-administrators who require this role.*
A hospital user with the HCAHPS Vendor Authorization role accesses the HCAHPS vendor authorization feature in My QualityNet.
The hospital user selects their survey vendor.

Once these steps have been completed, authorized survey vendors will be able to upload HCAHPS data on behalf of their contracted hospitals and view the data reports of all hospitals that have delegated the upload capability to them.

Vendors will be able to verify authorization via the "Hospitals Authorizing Vendor to Upload Data" report. If a provider has not granted authorization as expected, the vendor should contact the provider to have this authorization granted. The hospital will need to authorize data submission by a vendor using the My QualityNet HCAHPS Vendor Authorization function (described above).

*Organizations are encouraged to designate two My QualityNet Security Administrators: one to serve as the primary Security Administrator, and the other to serve as the backup. Additional information on registration is available on the public pages of QualityNet, http://www.QualityNet.org, under "Getting Started." If you have questions regarding QualityNet registration, please contact the QualityNet Help Desk at qnetsupport@sdps.org, or at (866) 288-8912, (7am to 7pm Central Time, Monday through Friday).

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Submission Reports

This information regarding the most effective way to run and view HCAHPS data submission reports is intended to assist hospitals and survey vendors who submit survey data to the HCAHPS data warehouse through My QualityNet.

The following information pertains to the two HCAHPS Submission Reports:

HCAHPS Warehouse Data Submission Summary Report
HCAHPS Warehouse Data Submission Detail Report

To obtain a comprehensive set of submission results, we strongly recommend that these reports be run by selecting only the "Upload Start & End Date" parameter (and if needed, Batch ID parameter to limit the results to the Batch IDs selected) to get a comprehensive set of submission results.

The "Discharge Start & End Date" and "Provider" parameters (applies to survey vendors) filter the results to a subset of the submission results. If the "Discharge Start & End Date" parameter and/or the "Provider" parameter (applies to survey vendors) are selected, any files that were submitted but then received parsing errors will be omitted from the submission report. Therefore, it is recommended that hospitals run the reports with the "Upload Start and End Date" parameters only. Doing so will ensure that all files submitted are accounted for on the submission reports, whether the files were accepted, rejected, or could not be parsed.

After obtaining the comprehensive set of submission results by following the directions above, users may find it helpful to run additional reports using varying combinations of parameters to filter the results to a smaller subset, depending on the need identified by the user, such as using the Batch ID parameter to limit the results to the Batch IDs selected.

For additional assistance or inquiries regarding the HCAHPS submission reports, please feel free to contact the QualityNet Help Desk at qnetsupport@sdps.org or (866) 288-8912, (7am to 7pm Central Time, Monday through Friday).

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HCAHPS Reports Authorization

The following HCAHPS Feedback Reports are being made available to healthcare systems and survey vendors, if approved by the hospital:

Provider Survey Status Summary
Data Submission Detail

If a healthcare system or survey vendor would like to request access to the hospital's HCAHPS Feedback Reports, the request for access must be made by the health care system or the survey vendor via QualityNet using the "Request Access" feature located in the Reports section of the My Tasks area. The HCAHPS Report Auth Request role is required to access this Report Authorization Request feature.

The hospital is then notified by e-mail that this request has been made and can approve or deny the request by using the "Approve Access Requests" feature on QualityNet. The healthcare system or survey vendor will then be notified by e-mail that the hospital has responded (Approved or Denied) to their request for access to the hospital's HCAHPS Feedback Reports. The health care system or the survey vendor needs to then sign in to My QualityNet and access the "View Access" feature to view the outcome of the request. If the hospital has approved the request, the health care system or the survey vendor should now have access to the hospital's HCAHPS Feedback Reports.

Once authorization is received from the hospital, QualityNet Security Administrators at the healthcare system or survey vendor organization will need to assign the "HCAHPS Feedback Reports role" to appropriate users at their organization to provide access to the HCAHPS Feedback Reports.

Refer to the QualityNet Reports User's Guide that is available on the secure pages of QualityNet under the Help link for a description and details of each report.

The Report Authorization recorded training is also available. The recorded training, which demonstrates how survey vendors and health care systems are able to request access from associated providers to their HCAHPS reports and how providers are able to view these requests and respond to them, can be accessed on QualityNet by selecting 'Training'. It is located in the 'For hospital, health care systems, hospital data vendors' section and is titled 'Report Authorization for HCAHPS and HOP QDRP'.

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