NEW: NCI-IDD Six-Year Revisions Cycle

by Dorothy Hiersteiner | September 19, 2023

In the past, NCI-IDD operated in a four-year revisions cycle for the NCI-IDD Surveys (including the In-Person Survey, Adult Family Survey, Family Guardian Survey and Child Family Survey). However, starting this revisions cycle, we are extending the revisions cycle to a six-year revisions cycle. This choice reflects our understanding of how challenging it can be to receive the survey tools for an upcoming data cycle and to see edits/changes to the tool that will affect your internal monitoring efforts. We also know how important it is to be able to maintain questions from year to year to best observe impacts of quality improvement efforts at the state level. Finally, we wanted to be sure there was ample time to understand and operationalize potential requirements regarding the CMS HCBS Quality Measure Set.

 Why is NCI-IDD changing to a six-year revisions cycle?

  • States expressed a desire to have a stable tool.
  • Creates time to gather meaningful feedback from states, surveyors and people taking the survey about the functionality of questions. We will design feedback opportunities throughout the cycle.
  • Allows for testing of proposed new questions before they’re added to the survey.
  • Selected NCI-IDD measures have been endorsed by National Quality Forum (the former CMS Consensus Based Entity) as LTSS quality measures. The six-year revisions cycle allows for robust psychometric testing for maintenance of this endorsement as well as similar testing of other measures to submit for endorsement to the new CBE.
  • Allows time for time to better understand the implementation of the CMS HCBS Quality Measure set and its impact on NCI-IDD.
  • Creates symmetry with the NCI-AD revisions cycle.

What does a “six-year revisions cycle for the NCI-IDD Surveys” mean for me and my state?

  • We will only make substantive changes every sixth year. The next year of substantive changes will be used to collect data for the 2026-27 data cycle.
  • A substantive change is defined as:
    • The addition or elimination of questions in the main survey tool (states may still add their state specific questions using NCI-IDD’s usual procedure);
    • The removal or restructuring of sections of the survey; wording changes that alter the meaning of the survey questions.
  • Small changes may be made in the interim. Small changes are defined as: grammatical, punctuation, or slight vocabulary changes; the correction of typos; the addition of instructions or clarifying guidance for surveyors within the survey tool.  

As always, let us know what questions you have!

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