CMS Begins Third Annual Medicare Provider Satisfaction Survey , USA

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 04 Dec 2007 - 5:00 PDT

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it has begun its third annual provider satisfaction survey of Medicare fee-for-service contractors who process and pay more than $280 billion in Medicare claims each year.

The Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey (MCPSS) offers providers the opportunity to contribute directly to CMS' understanding of contractor performance as well as aid future process improvement efforts at the contractor level. Specifically, the survey is used by CMS as an additional measure to evaluate contractor performance. In fact, all Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will be required to achieve performance targets on the MCPSS as part of their contract requirements by 2009.

"CMS and the Medicare contractor community are committed to high quality relationships with the provider community," CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems said. "The MCPSS provides contractors with greater insight into their provider communities, and allows them to make process improvements based on provider feedback."

The MCPSS is designed to gather quantifiable data on provider satisfaction levels with the key services that comprise the provider-contractor relationship. The survey focuses on seven major parts of the relationship - provider inquiries, provider outreach and education, claims processing, appeals, provider enrollment, medical review, and provider audit and reimbursement.

Respondents are asked to rate their experience working with contractors using a scale of 1 to 6 with "1" representing "not at all satisfied" and "6" representing "completely satisfied." The results of the second MCPSS -- which are available to health care providers and contractors on Medicare's public website -- showed that 85 percent of respondents rated their contractors between 4 and 6.

The 2007 MCPSS results indicate that the provider inquiry function has the greatest influence on whether providers are satisfied with their contractors. This indicated a shift from 2006, when the claims processing function was the strongest predictor of a provider's overall satisfaction.

"The shift from claims processing to provider inquiries as the top predictor of satisfaction is a perfect example of the type of trend data the MCPSS will reveal," Weems said. "Contractors are able to factor this insight into how they prioritize their provider-focused efforts."

CMS is sending the 2008 survey to about 35,000 randomly selected providers, including physicians and other health care practitioners, suppliers and institutional

facilities that serve Medicare beneficiaries across the country. Those providers selected to participate in the survey will be notified by December 2007. The survey is designed so that

it can be completed in about 15 minutes. Providers can submit their responses via a secure website, mail, fax or over the telephone. CMS is urging all Medicare providers selected to participate in the survey to complete and return their surveys upon receipt.

CMS plans to make the survey results publicly available in July 2008. Further information about the MCPSS is available here.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services