The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 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. All Medicare Administrative Contractors will be required to achieve performance targets on the MCPSS as part of their contract requirements by 2009.
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 — a rating of 1 representing “not at all satisfied” and a rating of 6 representing “completely satisfied.” The results of the second MCPSS showed that 85% of respondents rated their contractors between 4 and 6.
The 2007 MCPSS results indicated 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.
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 United States. The survey is designed so that it can be completed in about 15 minutes. Providers can submit their responses by the Internet, mail, fax or telephone.
