{"id":7372,"date":"2022-03-21T16:22:37","date_gmt":"2022-03-21T16:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/?p=7372"},"modified":"2022-03-22T19:16:29","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T19:16:29","slug":"quick-tips-for-providers-to-help-improve-cahps-and-hos-performance-ratings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/quick-tips-for-providers-to-help-improve-cahps-and-hos-performance-ratings\/","title":{"rendered":"QUICK TIPS FOR PROVIDERS TO HELP IMPROVE CAHPS AND HOS PERFORMANCE RATINGS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As you may know, two different patient satisfaction surveys impact a health plan\u2019s CMS Star ratings:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey is typically mailed to Plan members from March to June.<\/li>\n<li>The Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) is typically mailed to members July through November 2022.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>EOHHS and CMS have expanded emphasis on patient experience and continue to increase focus on the significance of patient-centered care and patient experience. A new CMS final rule will double the impact of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey results, patient experience, and complaints measures on a plan\u2019s overall Star Rating. This new star rating system essentially places providers and plans on the same team, working towards the common goal of patient satisfaction and a high star rating.<\/p>\n<p>Health New England has compiled a list of some of the metrics from both surveys below. We\u2019ve also included recommendations to efficiently address these metrics. These guidelines have been compiled from various organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Mayo Clinic, and Medscape Medical News.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Care Coordination &#8211; Recommendations for Physicians<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You probably know all relevant information about your patient\u2019s medical history\u2014but does your patient know you know? Make sure they do \u2014 it\u2019s a quick way to improve patient satisfaction with doctor-patient communication.<\/li>\n<li>Ask if the patient has seen any other providers\u2014and if you are aware specialty care has occurred, mention it and discuss as needed.<\/li>\n<li>Tell your patients when they should expect test results (\u201cby the end of next week\u201d) and who will give them the results \u2013 a staff member, your medical assistant, you?<\/li>\n<li>Do you let patients know when test results are normal? If not, be sure they know that\u2014but that they can call your office if they still want to check results.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Getting Needed Care &#8211; Recommendations for Your Staff<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure a few appointments each day are available to accommodate urgent visits.<\/li>\n<li>Maintain an effective triage system to ensure that frail and\/or very sick patients are seen right away.<\/li>\n<li>Offer appointments with a nurse practitioner or physician\u2019s assistant to patients who want to be seen on short notice but cannot be seen by their doctor.<\/li>\n<li>Encourage patients to make their routine appointments for checkups or follow-up visits as soon as they can\u2014weeks or even months in advance.<\/li>\n<li>Be proactive and call patients months before their tests, screenings, or physicals are due and get them scheduled. Don\u2019t wait for the patient to call.<\/li>\n<li>Follow-up about appointments and communicating test results in a timely manner.<\/li>\n<li>Explore alternative telecommunication technologies to expand access to care: telephone, telehealth, telemedicine, patient portals, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How Well Doctors Communicate &#8211; Recommendations for Physicians<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cultivate a patient-centered care philosophy and utilize systems such as PatientPing to communicate with providers across the patient\u2019s continuity of care.<\/li>\n<li>Provide thorough explanations, use written materials, illustrations and\/or examples to help patient&#8217;s understand, repeat the patient&#8217;s concern, and then address the topic, ask clarifying questions.<\/li>\n<li>Repeat key information and confirm patient understanding of concepts.<\/li>\n<li>Maintain eye contact, avoid medical jargon and technical language &#8211; use simple terms, tailor language to the patient&#8217;s level of understanding.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid rushing the patient and distractions, use constructive verbal responses and non-verbal cues; apply empathy and interest in response to concerns.<\/li>\n<li>Schedule adequate time for each visit, and follow-up after tests or procedures.<\/li>\n<li>Help patients feel at ease during invasive exams, tests, or procedures to help alleviate discomfort.<\/li>\n<li>Prioritize culturally empathetic care that respects diversity in the patient population and cultural factors that can affect health, such as language, communication style, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Urinary Incontinence &#8211; Recommendations for Physicians<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Encourage nursing staff and medical assistants to ask patients about any incidents of urinary incontinence in the last 6 months. Patients are often too embarrassed to initiate the discussion.<\/li>\n<li>Educate patients about noninvasive behavioral interventions for UI.<\/li>\n<li>When necessary, refer patient for appropriate treatment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Reducing Risk of Falling &#8211; Recommendations for Physicians<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Conduct a Medication Review with patients. Some medications or combinations of medications can have side effects like dizziness or drowsiness, increasing fall risk.<\/li>\n<li>Consider gradually withdrawing psychotropic medication and modifying other prescriptions, as appropriate, to reduce fall risk.<\/li>\n<li>Encourage annual eye exams and regular prescription updates for glasses\/contact lenses.<\/li>\n<li>Consider referral to an occupational therapist for home safety evaluation* and modification.<\/li>\n<li>Encourage exercise, specifically those that increase leg strength and balance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>General Tips for Providers<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Encourage patients to obtain preventive screenings annually or when recommended.<\/li>\n<li>Create office practices to identify noncompliant patients at the time of their appointment.<\/li>\n<li>Submit complete and correct encounters\/claims with appropriate codes.<\/li>\n<li>Submit clinical data such as lab results to Health New England.<\/li>\n<li>Perform and document medication reviews whenever appropriate.<\/li>\n<li>Understand each measure you impact.<\/li>\n<li>Incorporate Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) questions into each visit.<\/li>\n<li>Review the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS\u00ae) survey to identify opportunities for you or your office to have an impact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>More information can be found at the following links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CMS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems\/Research\/CAHPS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems\/Research\/CAHPS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>EOHHS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/doc\/2022-measures-and-implementation-parameters-0\/download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/doc\/2022-measures-and-implementation-parameters-0\/download<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As you may know, two different patient satisfaction surveys impact a health plan\u2019s CMS Star ratings: The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey is typically mailed to Plan members from March to June. The Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) is typically mailed to members July through November 2022. &nbsp; EOHHS and CMS have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[92],"tags":[132,133,134,135,136,137],"class_list":["post-7372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-provider-newsletter","tag-cahps","tag-hos","tag-member-surveys","tag-patient-satisfaction","tag-provider-tips","tag-star-ratings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6ZZHB-1UU","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7372"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7377,"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7372\/revisions\/7377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hnetalk.com\/provider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}