Services
About our work
HSAG supports the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in doing work to raise the patient’s voice in the healthcare arena.
HSAG works on CMS-funded national healthcare survey projects that measure patient experience of care or health outcomes. These surveys allow patients or their caregivers to share feedback based on experience in various healthcare settings.
HSAG plays an important role in these national healthcare surveys, all of which are focused on collecting information directly from the patient’s point of view based on their experiences in various healthcare settings.
CMS is committed to measuring and reporting information from the consumers’ perspective.
Our division first began doing this work in 1998.
Surveys
Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS)
Medicare HOS is the first patient-reported outcomes measure used in Medicare managed care. HOS is an essential component in assessing health plan quality. We conduct a broad range of complex and high-profile activities and tasks.
Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS)
In 2003 CMS awarded HSAG a contract to coordinate the national implementation of HCAHPS. HCAHPS is the first national standard to collect, uniformly measure, and publicly report patients’ perspective on their hospital inpatient care.
Medicare Advantage (MA) and Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) CAHPS
MA & PDP CAHPS allows for beneficiary experience and ratings of MA, Medicare Prescription Drug, and Medicare PDPs. Results are used by beneficiaries in selecting an MA or PDP contract, and contracts use these results to identify quality improvement areas.
CAHPS for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)
HSAG has supported this survey since its national implementation in 2017. This survey is intended for patients to provide feedback on their experience with the primary care they received with a specific provider.
CAHPS for Hospice Survey
HSAG has supported this national standardized survey, designed to measure patient and family experiences with hospice care, since 2014. This survey is intended to measure and assess the experience of decedents, as well as the experiences of their family caregivers.
