Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery CAHPS (OAS CAHPS)
Guidance for Overview: The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Survey (OAS CAHPS) collects information about patients’ experiences of care in hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). Considering the growing number of ASCs and the increase in Medicare expenditures for outpatient surgical services in both ASCs and HOPDs, the implementation of OAS CAHPS will provide statistically valid data from the patient perspective to inform quality improvement and comparative consumer information about outpatient facilities.
Final
Issued by: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Issue Date: February 11, 2020
If you have been contacted to participate in the Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery (OAS) CAHPS Survey and would like to verify your selection in this study, please contact the approved survey vendor identified in your survey invitation letter, or email AmbSurgSurvey@cms.hhs.gov. |
Overview: The Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery (OAS) CAHPS Survey collects information about patients’ experiences of care in Medicare-certified hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). OAS CAHPS is designed to measure the experiences of care for patients 18 and older who visited Medicare-certified HOPDs or ASCs for a surgery or procedure to inform quality improvement and comparative consumer information about outpatient facilities.
About the survey: Patients 18 years old and above who had both medically and non-medically necessary surgeries and/or procedures are eligible. The survey includes questions about patients’ experiences with their preparation for the surgery or procedure, check-in processes, cleanliness of the facility, communications with the facility staff, discharge from the facility, and preparation for recovering at home. The survey also includes questions about whether patients received information about what to do if they had possible side-effects during their recovery. OAS CAHPS is designed to be national in scope and has standardized administration protocols.
In 2022, CMS added two new web-based modes of survey administration (web with mail follow-up, and web with telephone follow-up) to the mail only, telephone only, and mail with telephone follow-up of non-respondents survey modes for OAS CAHPS.
How the data are used: In 2024 ASCs can continue to voluntarily submit OAS CAHPS data. The survey is required and linked to reimbursement in 2024 for HOPDs and 2025 for ASCs. If an HOPD or ASC does not conduct and submit OAS CAHPS as part of the quality reporting requirement, they will receive a reduction of 2.0 percentage points in their annual fee schedule update.
OAS CAHPS results for both HOPDs and ASCs are available on the Data Catalog on Data.CMS.gov. OAS CAHPS results will be publicly reported on the Compare Tool on Medicare.gov beginning in 2025 for HOPDs and beginning in 2026 for ASCs.
For more information, please visit the OAS CAHPS website: https://oascahps.org/. You can also access the Protocols and Guidelines Manual. You may also contact CMS at AmbSurgSurvey@cms.hhs.gov or the OAS CAHPS project team at oascahps@rti.org.
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