CAHPS In-Center Hemodialysis Survey

The CAHPS In-Center Hemodialysis Survey asks adults with end-stage renal disease about their experiences with care from dialysis facilities. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began national implementation of this survey in 2014. Dialysis facilities and End-Stage Renal Disease Networks (known simply as Networks) use this tool to measure and improve the patient-centeredness of their care.

How To Get the CAHPS In-Center Hemodialysis Survey and Administrative Guidance

To access this survey, supplemental questions, and all supporting documentation for survey administration, please visit CMS's website for the In-Center Hemodialysis Survey. No documentation for this survey is available on AHRQ's website.

For technical assistance with this survey, contact: ichcahps@rti.org or 1-866-245-8083.

Quality Measures from the CAHPS In-Center Hemodialysis Survey

The In-Center Hemodialysis Survey produces the following measures of patient experience:

• Nephrologists' communication and caring
• Quality of dialysis center care and operations
• Providing information to patients
• Rating of kidney doctors
• Rating of dialysis center staff
• Rating of dialysis center

For information about the measures, read In-Center Hemodialysis CAHPS Survey Global Ratings and Composites.

Improving Patients' Experiences with In-Center Hemodialysis

In 2005-2006, the CAHPS Team conducted a pilot project to demonstrate how dialysis facilities can use this survey to improve the quality of care they provide. The grantee organizations worked with seven dialysis facilities and their Networks to identify opportunities for improvement based on results from the field test. With the assistance of the Networks and grantees, the facilities implemented appropriate quality improvement programs and measures, and then resurveyed their patients in order to analyze the effectiveness of their QI initiatives.

Learn more about this project: 

• Improving the Quality of In-Center Hemodialysis Care
• CAHPS In-Center Hemodialysis Survey: Using Results to Improve Quality (PDF, 89 KB), Denise D. Quigley, Ph.D., Health Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation. Presentation at the 10th National CAHPS User Group Meeting.

Brief History

The In-Center Hemodialysis Survey was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) CAHPS program in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The National Quality Forum endorsed this instrument in November 2007 and renewed that endorsement in January 2015.

Learn about the development of the In-Center Hemodialysis Survey.