National Research Corporation Becomes Certified fo

LINCOLN, Neb., Oct. 24, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, National Research Corporation is pleased to announce its approval by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) as a CAHPS® survey provider for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The approval is contingent upon successful completion of CMS training, which will be completed in October.

CMS created three programs for ACOs through its Innovation Center (Pioneer ACO Model, Medicare Shared Savings Program, and Advance Payment ACO Model) and all are intended to reduce healthcare costs. The three programs are required to participate in quality measures, including the ACO CAHPS survey. ACOs are responsible for contracting with an approved vendor, such as National Research, to administer the survey beginning in 2014.
ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated, high-quality care to Medicare patients. The ACO CAHPS survey measures the patient experience for accountable care organizations and also assesses specific measures included in the Medicare Shared Savings Program and Pioneer ACO Model.

In addition, National Research announces its certification for the Medicare Advantage – Prescription Drug Plan (MA-PDP) CAHPS Survey. This survey is an initiative to assess patient experience among beneficiaries of Medicare Advantage plans. CMS requires all MA and PDP contracts with more than 600 enrollees to contract with an approved vendor. National Research will also begin surveying MA-PDP CAHPS next year.

"We are very excited to continue offering new CAHPS surveys that meet the evolving needs of the healthcare profession," said Susan L. Henricks, president and chief operating officer at National Research. "It's important we help the efforts of accountable care organizations to support delivering high-quality, patient-centered care."

About National Research Corporation

For more than 30 years, National Research Corporation (NASDAQ: NRCIA and NRCIB) has been at the forefront of patient-centered care. Today, the company's focus on empowering customer-centric healthcare across the continuum extends patient-centered care to incorporate families, communities, employees, senior housing residents, and other stakeholders.

Recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the largest patient satisfaction firms in the U.S., National Research is dedicated to representing the true voice of patients and other healthcare stakeholders. This integration of cross-continuum metrics and analytics uncovers insights for effective performance improvement, quality measurement, care transitions, and many other factors that impact population health management.

National Research is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. For more information, call 800-388-4264, write to info@nationalresearch.com, or visit www.nationalresearch.com .

Scott Smith Director of Marketing National Research Corporation 800-388-4264