Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan CAHPS® Survey

Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance

The 2023 Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan CAHPS Survey administration protocols are contained in the Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan CAHPS Survey Quality Assurance Protocols & Technical Specifications V13.0 (QAP&TS V13.0) manual.

View or download the Quality Assurance Protocols & Technical Specifications V13.0.

MA & PDP CAHPS Technical Corrections and Clarifications

Subsequent to the production of the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Quality Assurance Protocols & Technical Specifications V13.0 (QAP&TS V13.0), it has been determined that there are specific items that require content corrections and clarifications. The MA-Only, MA-PD, and PDP survey instructions have been revised. View or download the January 2023 version of the MA & PDP CAHPS Technical Corrections and Clarifications document.

MA & PDP CAHPS Summary of Updates

The MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Quality Assurance Protocols & Technical Specifications V13.0 (QAP&TS V13.0) Summary of Updates document is a reference tool that highlights the major changes from the QAP&TS V12.0 to V13.0. This document is not a substitute for reviewing the MA & PDP CAHPS QAP&TS V13.0 in its entirety.

View or download the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Summary of Updates from V12.0 to V13.0.

Click here to see the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Quality Assurance Protocols & Technical Specifications V12.0 that applied to 2022 survey administration.

MA & PDP CAHPS 5 Call Attempts Protocol Clarification

The MA & PDP CAHPS Survey project team has clarified the guidance regarding dialing multiple phone numbers and the 21 day rule for call attempts. The guidance has been revised to include a new example regarding the timing of attempts. 

View or download the 5 Call Attempts Protocol Clarification.

Chinese Translation of the MA & PDP CAHPS QAP&TS V13.0 Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support (FAQs) Is Now Available

CMS has provided a Chinese translation of the FAQs for Customer Support for vendors administering the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey in Chinese.

View or download the Chinese Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support.

Korean Translation of the MA & PDP CAHPS QAP&TS V13.0 Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support (FAQs) Is Now Available

CMS has provided a Korean translation of the FAQs for Customer Support for vendors administering the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey in Korean.

View or download the Korean Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support.

Tagalog Translation of the MA & PDP CAHPS QAP&TS V13.0 Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support (FAQs) Is Now Available

CMS has provided a Tagalog translation of the FAQs for Customer Support for vendors administering the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey in Tagalog.

View or download the Tagalog Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support.

Vietnamese Translation of the MA & PDP CAHPS QAP&TS V13.0 Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support (FAQs) Is Now Available

CMS has provided a Vietnamese translation of the FAQs for Customer Support for vendors administering the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey in Vietnamese.

View or download the Vietnamese Frequently Asked Questions for Customer Support.

Note: The Spanish FAQs can be found in Appendix E-1 of the MA & PDP CAHPS QAP&TS V13.0.   

2023 Data Collection Schedule

The basic tasks and timing for conducting the 2023 MA & PDP CAHPS Survey are summarized below. Survey vendors are required to adhere to the data collection schedule as outlined and may not depart from or modify this schedule in any way.

 

 Pre-Data Collection Tasks

Task

Date

Time Frame in Survey Field Period

Survey vendors must complete and email a Vendor Access to MA & PDP CAHPS Data Warehouse Form to MA-PDPCAHPSTECHSUPPORT@rand.org

11/9/2022

-113 days

Survey vendors must submit the English pre-notification letter, mail survey materials, and English MA-PD CATI screenshots to the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Project Team via MA-PDPCAHPS@hsag.com

11/22/2022

-100 days

Plan request for contract-level oversample (Authorized contract staff submit a web-based request in which they select the desired contract then enter the size of the requested oversample)

12/1/2022

-91 days

Plan must complete the web-based survey vendor authorization process to designate a survey vendor for each contract eligible for the 2023 MA & PDP CAHPS Survey

12/1/2022

-91 days

Survey vendors must submit any supplemental questions for approval

12/1/2022

-91 days

Survey vendors must submit Spanish (and Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, if applicable) pre-notification letter and mail survey materials to the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Project Team via MA-PDPCAHPS@hsag.com

12/13/2022

-79 days

Survey vendors must complete and submit a new DUA or update existing DUA to CMS and provide a copy of the new or updated DUA to the MA & PDP CAHPS Technical Assistance email (MA-PDPCAHPS@hsag.com). Subcontractors that come into direct contact with an enrollee and/or data about or from an enrollee (e.g., name, address, telephone number) must also have a DUA Addendum in place with CMS.

1/3/2023

-58 days

Survey vendors must submit QAP to the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Project Team via MA-PDPCAHPS@hsag.com

1/3/2023

-58 days

 

Data Collection Tasks

Survey Vendor Task

Date

Time Frame in Survey Field Period

Vendors download 2023 sample file

2/9/2023

-21 days

Mail out a pre-notification letter to all sampled members 

3/2/2023

day 1

Customer support telephone center opens (Toll-free number required)

3/3/2023

days 2-96

Mail-out of the first questionnaire with cover letter within one week of the pre-notification letter. Begin inbound CATI protocol.

3/6/2023 – 3/7/2023

days 5-6

Survey vendors must submit the first Vendor Report of Mail Survey Activity & Returns to the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Project Team via MA-PDPCAHPS@hsag.com. Additional reports are due every two weeks after the first report until the end of data collection.

3/21/2023

day 20

Mail-out of second mailing of questionnaire with cover letter to all non-respondents 30 days after first mailing

4/5/2023 – 4/6/2023

days 35-36

Submit interim data files with returned mail survey data to CMS (RAND). Survey vendors may begin to submit data on 4/25/2023 but must have an interim data file submitted, and deemed to be fully correct and accepted, by 4/27/2023. No interim submission of MMP data is required.

4/25/2023 - 4/27/2023

days 55-57

Initiate telephone follow-up by computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) for all non-respondents to the mail survey (First attempt must occur during this time)

4/28/2023 – 5/8/2023

days 58-68

Survey vendors must submit the first Vendor Report of Outbound CATI to the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Project Team via MA-PDPCAHPS@hsag.com

5/8/2023

day 68

Submit interim data files with mail and phone survey data to CMS (RAND). Survey vendors may begin to submit data on 5/9/2023 but must have an interim data file submitted, and deemed to be fully correct and accepted, by 5/11/2023. No interim submission of MMP data is required.

5/9/2023 – 5/11/2023

 

days 69-71

Conduct additional telephone attempts by CATI according to the following specifications:

  • Call attempts must occur in three different calendar weeks
  • Call attempts must be scheduled at different times of the day and on different days of the week

The 5th call attempt must occur no sooner than 21 days after the 1st call attempt, if a 5th call attempt is necessary

5/9/2023 – 6/5/2023

days 69-96

Survey vendors must submit the second Vendor Report of Outbound CATI to the MA & PDP CAHPS Survey Project Team via MA-PDP CAHPS@hsag.com

5/15/2023

day 75

Cutoff date for returned mail surveys

6/5/2023

day 96

Customer support toll-free line closes

6/5/2023

day 96

Outbound telephone interviewing ends

6/5/2023

day 96

Submit final MA & PDP CAHPS data files to CMS approximately two weeks after close of data collection via the Data Submission website provided by the RAND Corporation. Data can be submitted as early as 6/13/2023 but vendors must have a final data file submitted, and deemed to be fully correct and accepted, by 6/15/2023.

6/13/2023 – 6/15/2023

days 105-107

 

Vendors serving MMP contracts submit the data from the fixed set of national MMP supplemental items approximately three weeks after the close of data collection via the Data Submission website provided by the RAND Corporation. Data can be submitted as early as 6/20/2023 but vendors must have a final data file submitted, and deemed to be fully correct and accepted, by 6/22/2023.

6/20/2023 – 6/22/2023

days 111-113

 

 

This page was last modified on 2/16/2023