The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a request for information on Nov. 20 asking healthcare providers for their assistance in designing and developing a survey on patient and family experiences with inpatient rehabilitation facilities.  Comments are due by 5 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2016. CMS noted that the National Quality Strategy created as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act focuses on improving the quality of care, improving the health of the U.S. population and reducing the cost of care. In addition, the NQS has the following six priorities: 1.     Making care safer by reducing harm caused by the delivery of care2.     Ensuring that each person and family are engaged as partners in their care3.     Promoting effective communication and coordination of care4.     Promoting the most effective prevention and treatment practices for the leading causes of mortality, starting with cardiovascular disease5.     Working with communities to promote wide use of best practices to enable healthy living6.     Making quality care more affordable for individuals, families, employers, and governments by developing new health care delivery models. CMS said it is developing the survey based on the NQS’s aims. The survey is different from previous CMS surveys because it focuses on patients who have significant rehabilitation needs. CMS defines inpatient rehabilitation facilities as “hospitals or units of acute care (or critical access) hospitals that provide intensive rehabilitation services to patients typically following an injury, illness, or surgery.” Click here for information on how to submit comments.