FAQ Directory

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about NCQA’s various programs. If you don’t see what you are looking for in one of the entries below, you can  ask a question through My NCQA.

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11.15.2012 Board Certification Does Board Certification status count as a quality measure?

No, Board Certification status alone does not count as a quality measure.

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 Requests for corrections or changes For PQ2: Elements B and C, how can patient experience of care data corrected, when this information is not disclosed to physicians?

The plan is not required to disclose member-specific results, nor is it expected that a physician can correct member responses. At a minimum, the physician must be given the methodology (e.g., sampling, attribution) and survey questions and, upon request, be allowed to confirm that the patients in the universe from which the sample was drawn are his or her patients, given the methodology.

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 Timing for Program Input In the Element B explanation under the head Feedback Timeframe requires the organization to seek feedback annually and Element C _ Program Impact requires the organization annually asses the program. Does the organization have to carry out these activities annually if its measurement cycle is every two years?

No. An organization that measures its physicians every two years can meet the requirement by seeking feedback and assessing the program every two years.

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 Publically Reporting Performance-Based Payments Element A. requires that the organization must publicly report information on the percentage of total payments based on performance. Does this require that the information be published or is it acceptable to make it available and notify customers that it is available?

For Element F, the organization must demonstrate that it has a process to verify that it has followed the specifications outlined in Element C (e.g., sample sizes, attribution, statistical validity). If the organization uses a vendor to administer the survey, this process may be performed by the vendor, but documentation demonstrating how the element is met must be included for the PHQ Survey.

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 Automatic credit for NQF endorsed surveys Does an organization that uses the NQF-endorsed CAHPS-CG survey receive automatic credit? If not, what is the organizations accountability for confirming factors in the measurement methodology?

An organization does not receive automatic credit for using CAHPS-CG for an NCQA Survey. For Element C, the organization must follow the aspects of the survey methodology outlined in the endorsed specification, and must specify how it will address all other aspects of methodology required by the element.

11.15.2012 Working with Physicians Our organization posts the results of our physician measurement program on our directory on January 1 and any tiered networks or differential benefits are effective that same date. We make the results available to members by request (e.g. the member can call an 800 number to ask about a physicians status in the tiered network) on December 1. Which date _ January 1 or December 1 _ does NCQA consider the action date for the purposes of calculating whether we notify physicians 45 days ahead of action and resolve requests for corrections or changes before taking action?

If information is available to the public–even if it is only available by request–NCQA considers this to be public reporting. Therefore, in this scenario the taking action date is December 1.

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 NA scoring for Renewal Surveys in QI 9 The 2013 edition of HP states that for QI 9, Element D, Performance Measurement, the look-back period for Renewal Surveys is NA. Is this correct?

Yes. QI 9, Element D is NA for Renewal Surveys for all factors. This is because organizations that undergo Renewal Surveys are already required to submit and are scored on preventive health HEDIS measures. Organizations undergoing Interim and First Survey options are not required to submit HEDIS measures.

11.15.2012 Patient experience measures Do the results of Patient Experience of Care surveys, using questions derived from CAHPS-CG, have a role in the evaluation of physician quality?

Yes. Patient experience measures are considered measures of quality. The organization may use items or composites from the CAHPS-CG survey. Measure specifications for the CAHPS-CG survey can be found on the AHRQ website (https://cahps.ahrq.gov/clinician_group/).

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 Requests for corrections or changes Are organizations responsible for confirming the factors in Element F, or is this the responsibility of an external vendor?

For Element F, the organization must demonstrate that it has a process to verify that it has followed the specifications outlined in Element C (e.g., sample sizes, attribution, statistical validity). If the organization uses a vendor to administer the survey, this process may be performed by the vendor, but documentation demonstrating how the element is met must be included for the PHQ Survey.

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 Standardized Measure Specifications For Element A, if the organizations correction process allows elimination of non-compliant patients from the measure result at the request of the physician, even when those patients are in the standardized measure specification, is the measure still considered to be standardized?

No. To meet the definition of a standardized measure, the organization must follow the measure speciation exactly, including all numerator and denominator inclusions and exclusions.

PHQ 2013

11.15.2012 WHP Performance Measure Reporting What is the process for reporting performance measure results for Accredited With Performance Reporting (AWPR) status?

Organizations are responsible for reporting NCQA WHP performance measure results exactly as specified if they are seeking AWPR status. Organizations must submit performance measure results to NCQA and attain a score of 50% or higher on WHP 12, Element A.

In order to retain AWPR status, organizations must annually submit performance measure results. Organizations that are NCQA Accredited in Wellness and Health Promotion and want to upgrade to AWPR status must submit measure results by the next annual reporting date (April 15) in any year during the accreditation cycle.

Organizations typically complete the WHP Performance Measures Reporting Tool, an Excel workbook. They send the workbook to an NCQA-Certified Auditor to have their measure results audited before submission. The auditor completes the audit worksheet in the Reporting Tool and locks the workbook, the returns the workbook to the organization, which subsequently submits the tool to NCQA.

WHP 2013

11.15.2012 Pricing for Derivative Programs How does NCQA determine which pricing tier it places a derivative product in?

NCQA prices a program and any programs it qualifies as derivative programs using the pricing tier that includes the total number of physicians measured in all the programs an organization brings forward. No individual physician is counted more than once for the purposes of determining which pricing tier is used, but the total of all physicians in all programs determines the tier used for every program.

PHQ 2013