Indiana Medicaid Satisfaction Surveys

Several IHCA members have been contacted by either GoResource Link or Knowledge Services concerning the Indiana Medicaid satisfaction survey process that is part of the Value Based Purchasing program.  Over the past few of weeks letters have been sent to facility administrators providing notice and a broad overview of the survey process.  Since this letter went out, GoResource Link and Knowledge Services (contractors for the State) have begun calling facilities and sending emails containing instructions to report data on residents, family/friends, and employees to the contractors by May 13th (or May 17th depending on what material you received) in order that the contractors have information necessary to conduct surveys of these individuals.

Data Request
It has come to our attention that some administrators are receiving emails from the contractors without having been called first.  After discussion with the State, it appears that the contractors are calling first and obtaining the administrator’s email from whomever answers the phone.  In some cases, administrators are speaking with the contractors, but in other cases the administrator has not talked with the contractor and the first contact  the administrator has is the receipt of the email with instructions on data submission.  The requests from the contractors are legitimate requests.  Though it would seem that some of the data will be stale by the time July, August and September roll around, the State is asking for facilities to cooperate with the submission of data this month to the contractors.
Residents/Employees of Residential or Unlicensed AL/IL – Excluded from Survey Process
The State has also indicated that residents of licensed residential units/beds and unlicensed AL/IL are not to be included in the survey process.  In addition, if you have employees that are 100% dedicated to licensed residential units/beds and/or unlicensed AL/IL these employees are not to be included in the survey process.  I have requested that the State communicate this to the contractors so the contractors can in turn communicate to providers.

Survey Schedule
The contractors indicate that they intend to perform resident, family/friend, and employee surveys according to the below schedule:
• Resident Surveys (onsite at the facility)
o 200 facilities in July
o 200 facilities in August
o 80 facilities in September
• Family/Friend Survey (by mail)
o Wave 1 – July 1, 2013
o Wave 2 – July 22, 2013
o Wave 3 – August 5, 2013
• Employee Survey (by mail or internet)
o Wave 1 – July 1, 2013
o Wave 2 – July 17, 2013
o Wave 3 – July 29, 2013
o Wave 4 – August 5, 2013
o Wave 5 – August 12, 2013

A sample of the letter to facility administrators and a presentation about the satisfaction survey process that was provided to the IHCA, and other trade associations, may be accessed in the Members Only section of the IHCA website.

If you have any questions or concerns about the survey process, or about the Medicaid VBP program generally, please contact Zach Cattell at 317-616-9001 or zcattell@ihca.org.