FAQ Directory

Although HEDIS/CAHPS results collected in 2020 reflect Measurement Year (MY) 2019, COVID-19 is impacting key aspects of HEDIS hybrid data collection and consumer experience nationally in 2020. The NCQA ratings methodology includes HEDIS/CAHPS measures and Accreditation status. While HEDIS/CAHPS reporting remains a required component of commercial and Medicaid Accreditation, we will not calculate an overall Health Plan Rating for MY 2019, because key aspects of data collection—especially consumer experience/CAHPS survey data—are understood to be compromised by the 2020 pandemic.
In addition to Accreditation, there are two components of Health Plan Ratings to consider when determining comparability for performance assessment: HEDIS and CAHPS results.

1. HEDIS:
   1. Measures specified to use administrative data only: We expect HEDIS administrative measures to be less impacted; however, we are monitoring them closely. 
   2. Measures specified to use administrative data with a medical record review component (Hybrid Method): We expect some HEDIS hybrid measures to be compromised, given the challenge of accessing charts for abstraction.
2. CAHPS: We have concerns about the validity of CAHPS results because the survey is being fielded this year from February–May, during the height of the pandemic as it continues to spread unevenly across the country, with wide regional variation.

Considerations: Preliminary impact modeling using MY 2018 data has shown that approximately half of all plans’ overall ratings would be affected if Hybrid measures and/or CAHPS survey results were excluded from Health Plan Ratings. Given the uncertainty and likely variability of COVID-19’s impact on hybrid data collection efforts and consumer experience, NCQA will not calculate ratings for comparison of plans in 2020 for MY 2019. Ratings based on a reduced set of measures would not be comparable to previous Health Plan Ratings.

In addition, since NCQA will align with CMS guidance (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/06/2020-06990/medicare-and-medicaid-programs-policy-and-regulatory-revisions-in-response-to-the-covid-19-public), we will not require Medicare Advantage plans to submit data for Accreditation. In order to maintain alignment across all product lines, we want to recognize commercial and Medicaid plans for collecting and reporting data; however, we understand that some plans’ ability to submit HEDIS/CAHPS data might be compromised. We will work with these plans individually.

HEDIS 2020

CAHPS: CAHPS survey results will not be included in Quality Compass. We have concerns about the validity of CAHPS results because the survey is being fielded this year from February–May during the height of the pandemic as it continues to spread unevenly across the country, with wide regional variation.   

HEDIS: We will continually assess the feasibility of using the data reported to us for other purposes, including Quality Compass, provided data meet our usual standards for validity, accuracy and completeness. No public reporting will be done on any measures failing to meet such criteria. 
 

HEDIS 2020

NCQA’s Health Plan Accreditation program consists of three components that together uniquely evaluate a plan’s infrastructure, consistency, quality and compliance. In addition to structure and process standards, NCQA also requires plans to have a robust framework for gathering, reporting, analyzing and acting on member experience (CAHPS) data and health outcomes (HEDIS) measures.

Although compliance with our standards is reviewed every three years, HEDIS/CAHPS reporting is assessed annually. This assessment is two-fold: We evaluate reporting compliance and capabilities and we calculate performance outcomes for benchmarking with other plans. While we will not calculate a performance outcome by way of our Health Plan Ratings in 2020, we will still assess whether plans are maintaining their reporting and quality infrastructure.
 

HEDIS 2020

NCQA requires hybrid measures with multiple indicators to be reported using the same measurement year of data. Because of this requirement, if you report all CDC indicators hybrid last year (except for eye exam, which you reported administratively):

• Rotate all CDC indicators and report the hybrid data for all CDC indicators you reported hybrid, and
• Report eye exams using the MY 2018 administrative data.  

This is the only exception for using prior years’ administrative data.
 

HEDIS 2020

The answer posted in March 2020 unintentionally increased the rigor of the requirement for the 2020 standards year. Therefore, we are updating the answer.
For the 2020 standards year, organizations may limit involvement to practitioners who are staff or participants in the network; NCQA does not require non-staff network practitioners to be involved.

Effective for the 2021 standards year, organizations may not limit involvement to practitioners who are staff. Non-staff network practitioners must also be involved in developing, adopting and reviewing criteria, because they are subject to application of the criteria. If an organization has been unable to involve network practitioners, it must document its attempts and provide the documentation to NCQA during the survey.

This change will be released in the 2021 standards and guidelines.

MBHO 2020

No. Replace “LTSS-CAU” with “LTSS-CPU“ (Comprehensive Care Plan and Update). Performance results of LTSS-CPU may be used instead of completing the file review.

HP 2020

To meet criterion QI 11 a practice must first establish a baseline for a patient experience measure and then set goals and take actions to improve upon this measure. Qualitative measures can be used if the qualitative feedback can be measured and the baseline can be compared to any improvement. An example of this may be the practice trying to reduce the total number of negative feedback responses they receive through a suggestion box pertaining to wait times by 50%.

PCMH 2017

Organizations may share a Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) among sites as long as every site has representation on the council. Large organizations with many sites may consider creating multiple PFACs based on region or clinic type.

PCMH 2017

No, connection to an HIE or RHIO alone would not meet the intent of TC 03. A PCMH collaborative activity must be external to practice, involve multiple practices, be ongoing (not a short-term activity), cover multiple aspects of patient-centered care, and involve some level of collaboration between practices to learn and share best practices with their peers. Connection to an HIE or RHIO may help the practice meet elective criterion CC21A.

PCMH 2017

No, organization or health system involvement in a benchmarked/ performance-based recognition program will not meet. For KM 13, the practice must participate in an external recognition program that assesses the practice or clinician-level performance, using a common set of specifications to benchmark results. The external recognition program should also publicly report results and have a process to validate measure integrity.

PCMH 2017

The intent behind the high cost/high utilization category is that the practice is actively measuring the total cost of services or how much utilization occurs. A diagnosis of a condition may not be used as a proxy for high cost/high utilization. For instance, measuring the number of patients with uncontrolled asthma would not count under high cost/high utilization, but if those patients have multiple ER visits per year, this would be considered high utilization.

PCMH

Yes, to meet AC 04 a practice’s report must include calls received both during and after business hours. If the practice has different standard response time expectations during and after business hours, they may format this as two separate reports.

PCMH 2017