Group home staff may serve as proxies on HH-CAHPS survey, CMS says

If your agency serves patients in a group home, employees there may complete the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HH-CAHPS) survey for patients under certain circumstances, CMS contractor RTI International has clarified.

However, RTI International warns that HH-CAHPS vendors will have to ensure group home employees only serve as proxies when:

• the patient is physically or mentally incapable of responding for him or herself;
• the proxy respondent is an employee of the group home and not of the home health agency; and
• the proxy respondent is knowledgeable about the sample patient’s home health care.