Home Health Care CAHPS® (HHCAHPS) Survey

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Survey

About this Page

The Home Health Care CAHPS Survey (HHCAHPS) is designed to measure the experiences of people getting home health care from Medicare-certified home health care agencies. HHCAHPS is the first national, standardized, and publicly reported survey of home health care patients’ perspectives of their skilled home care.

For more information, please visit the official HHCAHPS website where you can access the Protocols and Guidelines Manual and other information about the HHCAHPS Survey.

To communicate with CMS staff about survey implementation issues, contact CMS at HomeHealthCAHPS@cms.hhs.gov.

For technical assistance, contact the HHCAHPS project team at hhcahps@rti.org or toll-free at 1-866-354-0985.

Survey Description

HHCAHPS is a national survey of patients getting home health care from Medicare-certified agencies. The survey is conducted monthly. There are three survey modes: mail only, telephone only, and mixed mode (mail with telephone follow-up of non-respondents). Survey questions ask patients about their home health providers’ communication about their care, quality of care, and whether they’d recommend the home health agency.

HHCAHPS data are publicly reported on the Medicare.gov Compare Tool. Data are updated quarterly. Consumers can use publicly reported HHCAHPS Survey data and star ratings when comparing and choosing home health agencies. Home health agencies can use HHCAHPS Survey results to inform quality improvement efforts. HHCAHPS is also used in home health care quality incentive payment programs.

A revised version of the HHCAHPS Survey was introduced beginning in April 2026. Here, we summarize measures and questions from the original and revised surveys.

Original Survey (Administered to Home Health Patients Prior to April 2026); 34 Questions

Publicly reported data include the following five measures:

Measure Name	Questions from the Survey
Care of Patients	Patients reported the following: How often home health providers from the named agency seemed informed and up-to-date about all the care of treatment they got at home (Question 9) How often home health providers from the named agency treated them as gently as possible (Question 16) How often home health providers from the named agency treated them with courtesy and respect (Question 19) Whether they had any problems with the care they got through the named agency (Question 24)
Communications Between Providers and Patients	Patients reported the following: Whether someone from the named agency told them what care and services they would get (Question 2) How often the home health providers from the named agency kept them informed about when they would arrive at their home (Question 15) How often the home health providers from the named agency explained things in a way that was easy to understand (Question 17) How often the home health providers from the named agency listened carefully to them (Question 18) Whether they got the help or advice they needed when they contacted the named agency’s office (Question 22) How long it took for them to get the help or advice they needed when they contacted the agency’s office (Question 23)
Specific Care Issues	Patients reported the following: Whether someone from the named agency talked with them about how to set up their home so they could move around safely (Question 3) Whether someone from the named agency talked with them about all the prescription and over-the-counter medicines they were taking (Question 4) Whether someone from the named agency asked to see all the over-the-counter medicines they were taking (Question 5) Whether they and a home health provider from the named agency talked about pain (Question 10) Whether the home health providers from the named agency talked with them about the purpose for taking their new or changed prescription medicines (Question 12) Whether the home health providers from the named agency talked with them about when to take these medicines (Question 13) Whether the home health providers from the named agency talked with them about the side effects of the medicines (Question 14)
Overall Rating of Care	Patients rated the named agency’s home health providers on a scale of 0 (worst possible) to 10 (best possible) (Question 20)
Patient Willingness to Recommend HHA to Family and Friends	Patients reported how likely they would be to recommend the named agency to family or friends if they needed home health care (Question 25)

Revised Survey (Administered to Home Health Patients in April 2026 or Later); 25 Questions

The revised HHCAHPS Survey makes the following changes:

Modifies Care of Patients composite
Modifies Communications Between Providers and Patients composite
Adds three standalone measures that were previously captured under Specific Care Issues

Below is a description of the new measures and the differences between the original and revised Care of Patient and Communication Between Providers and Patients measures. Other measures are not substantially changed.

Measure Name	Questions from the Survey
Care of Patients	The word “providers” was changed to “staff” for three questions and two questions were slightly reworded. One question about any problems with the care received by the agency was removed. The following new questions were added: How often did they feel that home health staff from the agency cared about them as a person (Question 11) How often have the services they received from the agency helped them take care of their health (Question 13)
Communications Between Providers and Patients	The word “providers” was changed to “staff” for three questions. The question asking whether someone from the agency told patients what care and services they would get was removed. The question asking how long it took to get the help and advice needed was removed. The following new question was added: In the last 2 months of care, did home health staff from this agency provide your family or friends with information or instructions about your care as much as you wanted?
Talk About Home Safety	The wording of this question was revised and examples provided
Review Medicines	Several questions about medications were combined into this new question: Has someone from the agency ever reviewed the prescribed and over-the-counter medicines you were taking? For example, they might have asked you to show them your medicines and talked with you about how and when to take each one.
Talk About Medicine Side Effects	The word “providers” changed to “staff”

Participation Requirements for Home Health Agencies

The HHCAHPS Survey annual payment update (APU) period runs April through March each calendar year. The table below shows key dates with respect to HHCAHPS data collection, including the data collection year, corresponding reference year, and the APU period that is impacted. It also includes the deadline for submitting the Participation Exemption Request (PER) form.

Medicare-certified home health agencies that served 60 or more unduplicated survey-eligible patients in the 12-month reference period (April through March the year prior to the participation period) are required to participate in the HHCAHPS Survey to receive their full APU. To participate, eligible agencies must contract with an approved HHCAHPS Survey vendor and have that vendor administer the HHCAHPS Survey on a continuous monthly basis during the participation period (April through March). Additional information about getting started with HHCAHPS can be found on the HHCAHPS website in the HHA Responsibilities and Participation Requirements resource document which is updated annually.

Medicare-certified home health agencies that served 59 or fewer unduplicated survey-eligible patients in the 12-month reference period are eligible for an exemption from participating in the HHCAHPS Survey for the given APU period. Agencies eligible for an exemption from participating in the HHCAHPS Survey should submit an online Participant Exemption Request (PER) form through the HHCAHPS website. Additional information about HHA exemption from participating in the HHCAHPS Survey can be found on the HHCAHPS website in the APU Participation Requirements resource document which is updated annually.

There is also a HHCAHPS Survey Participation Period reference document maintained on the HHCAHPS website that is updated annually.

(A)	(B)	(C)	(D)
Annual Payment Update (APU) Calendar Year	Did the HHA serve 60 or more survey-eligible patients during the 12-month period specific below?	If the HHA served 60 or more survey-eligible patients during the 12-month period specified in Column B, to receive the annual payment update for a specific calendar year, the HHAs must administer the survey and submit an HHCAHPS data file for each month as noted below.	If the HHA served 59 or fewer survey-eligible patients during the 12-month period specified in Column B, the HHA is eligible for an exemption from participating in the HHCAHPS Survey for the 12-month period specified in Column C. To receive an exemption, the HHA must submit a PER by the date noted below.
2026	April 1, 2023-March 31, 2024	April 2024-March 2025	March 31, 2025
2027	April 1, 2024-March 31, 2025	April 2025-March 2026	March 31, 2026
2028	April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026	April 2026-March 2027	March 31, 2027

For more details about participation requirements and HHCAHPS® Survey implementation, please visit the HHCAHPS Survey website.

Page Last Modified:

04/20/2026 01:37 PM

Help with File Formats and Plug-Ins