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What's New

Options for Hospitals with 5 or Fewer HCAHPS Eligible Discharges in a Month (11/14/2008)

Hospitals with 5 or fewer eligible HCAHPS patient discharges in a month may choose to not survey those patients for that given month. If patients are not surveyed, an HCAHPS Header Record will still need to be submitted on line via My QualityNet.

Please click here for information on filing notification of not surveying fewer than 5 eligible HCAHPS patient discharges for a given month on line.


Hospitals Sumitting "Zero Case" Data On line (11/14/2008)

Hospitals with zero eligible HCAHPS patient discharges ("zero cases") should submit information on line via My QualityNet. Letters to the HCAHPS Project Team regarding "zero cases" are being phased out and replaced by on line filing. Please click here for information on filing "zero cases" on line.

Upcoming Data Submission Deadlines Posted (11/14/2008)

Please Note: Make sure to allow adequate time to submit data in case resubmissions are necessary. A successful submission to QualityNet Exchange is defined as a file that has been accepted by QualityNet, as indicated on the Data Submission Report.

Once you have uploaded your files, if you do not receive an email confirmation within twenty-four hours with a batch number indicating that your batch has been processed, please contact the QualityNet Help Desk at qnetsupport@ifmc.sdps.org or by telephone at 866.288.8912. Be sure to check the Submission Reports, if your hospital uploaded data, or the Feedback Reports, if your hospital has contracted with an approved survey vendor. These reports are available on the QualityNet Exchange Website.

2009 deadlines for HCAHPS data submission are as follows:

  • January 14, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in July, August and September 2008. September 2008 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.
  • April 8, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in October, November and December 2008. December 2008 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.
  • July 8, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in January, February and March 2009. March 2009 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.
  • October 14, 2009 is the data submission deadline for patients discharged in April, May and June 2009. June 2009 Dry Run data also must be submitted by this date.

All data submission must be successfully submitted by these dates.


V.26 MS-DRGs effective October 1, 2008 (10/03/2008)

CMS has adopted V.26 MS-DRGs effective October 1, 2006. Ms-DRG 265 has been added to the previous version and several code titles have been revised.

Please click here for the Table of V.26 MS-DRG Codes and Service Line Categories.


New HCAHPS Bulletin–Lag Time (10/03/2008)

The HCAHPS Project Team is instituting a new method of conveying timely information to all approved survey vendors, self-administering hospitals and multi-site hospitals participating in HCAHPS data collection and submission. HCAHPS Bulletins will be issued when the HCAHPS Project Team believes that clarification or correction is called for in key matters pertaining to data collection or submission. HCAHPS Bulletins may also be issued to announce important changes in survey administration, data submission, etc.

Please click here for a copy of the First HCAHPS Bulletin.


Public Reporting Periods Posted (9/19/2008)

A document to show the calendar quarters of HCAHPS results that will be publicly reported on the Hospital Compare website through March 2009 can be obtained by following the links below. This document also contains information about when hospitals may suppress the public reporting of their HCAHPS results. More information can be found on the Technical Specifications page.

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


National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC) discharge code update (6/25/2008)

The NUBC has made two changes in the Patient Status Discharge Codes that will impact code 05 (Other institution for inpatient care). These two changes, implemented April 7, 2008 for discharges beginning April 1, 2008 are:

  • Redefine patient discharge status 05 to "discharge/transfer to a designated cancer center or children's hospital"
  • Add patient discharge status code 70 defined as "discharge/transfer to another type of health care institution not defined elsewhere in the code list."

Due to the current HCAHPS XML version 3.0 the new discharge code "70" is not a valid option. Until further notice, please crosswalk discharge code "70" and discharge code "05" to the valid XML version 3.0 code "05". Please contact HCAHPS Technical Support at hcahps@azqio.sdps.org with any questions.




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