There are two reasons for there to be disparity between your CMS reports and the results you see through HealthStream Research’s online reporting tools.

·       Mode adjustment:  Results through HealthStream Research’s online reporting tools have not gone through a mode adjustment because our entire patient database is built upon telephone research.  However, CMS accepts results collected through mail, mixed mode, CATI, and Active IVR, so they have developed a proprietary mode adjustment model to normalize the results across all modes.  The results you see through HealthStream Research’s online reporting tools have not been adjusted. 

·       Patient-Mix adjustment:  Results reported on HealthStream Research’s online reporting have not gone through a patient-mix adjustment.  Patient-mix adjustment variables include type of service (medical, surgical, maternity), age, education, health status, language, etc.

·       Scope of sample:  If you have chosen to only survey patients deemed as eligible by CMS, the only disparity between the results you see via HealthStream Research’s online reporting and CMS’ public reporting website will be due to mode adjustment.  However, if you have chosen to also survey patients deemed ineligible by CMS, there will be additional disparity in the results between HealthStream Research and CMS.  CMS only accepts results for eligible patients.

Do you have a question you’d like to send to our team of experts?  Send an email to researchinfo@healthstream.com, and our interdisciplinary team of experts will provide you with a detailed answer.  Specify if you wish to remain anonymous.