CMS Authorizes Press Ganey to Administer Primary Care First Patient Experience of Care Surveys

Press Ganey was recently granted authorization by CMS to deploy the Primary Care First Patient Experience of Care Survey (PCF PECS).

The program comes as part of CMS’s five-year plan to improve quality and patient experiences while keeping costs low for patients receiving primary care. Press Ganey will begin administering surveys during the inaugural PECS administration period starting Sept. 28 and ending Dec. 21, 2021. The surveying firm will continue to administer surveys throughout the rest of the five-year program.

The CMS intends to measure the impact of the Primary Care First Model, a payment model that supports the delivery of value-based care, by using a targeted set of patient experience assessments. These assessments include CG-CAHPS 3.0 and PFC-centric questions focused on five domains:

• The delivery of timely care, appointments, and information.
• The quality of communication carried out by providers to patients.
• The patient’s rating of provider.
• The degree of attention to care by other providers.
• The support received by patients taking care of their own health.

Press Ganey’s real-time digital surveys, those of which have already been in circulation, will be supplemented by the new in-person survey methods. Gathering patient experience insights from the use of both digital and in-person data collection methods will optimize PCF program performance.

The approval of the PCF PECS program paired with a recent SPH Analytics acquisition makes Press Ganey the only firm certified to conduct all CMS and NCQA-mandated experience surveys. Survey feedback will gather data necessary to improve the experience of patients with complex and chronic conditions.

“We are proud to receive CMS approval to provide a solution to help drive and sustain improvement in the primary care setting,” said Daniel Litwer, Chief Client Officer at Press Ganey, in a statement. “Feedback from patients will produce critical insight into how this model impacts and reshapes the experience for those with complex and chronic conditions.”