Many agencies choose to add questions to the existing HH-CAHPS patient satisfaction survey, but CMS contractor RTI International now is asking providers and their vendors to check the wording of those questions closely.

Supplemental questions cannot have the same wording as core survey questions, RTI notes in new guidance. This applies even when the response scale for the question is different, RTI adds.

RTI urges agencies to get in compliance with this new guidance as soon as possible, but doesn’t say why it thinks identical wording on supplemental questions is problematic. However, the contractor does encourage agencies to email hhcahps@rti.org in case of questions.