CRWONWeb Outreach, Communication and Training

The Social Security Act of 1972 (P.L. 92-603) extended Medicare Coverage to all patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) who require dialysis or kidney transplantation in order to survive, regardless of their age. The Conditions for Coverage (CFC) for suppliers of ESRD services, updated and published in April 2008, mandate that all Dialysis Facilities submit administrative and clinical data electronically. CMS developed the CROWNWeb data collection system in response to the mandate. CROWNWeb (http://projectcrownweb.org) is a Web-based data-collection system that allows authorized users to securely submit and access patient-based data (both clinical and non-clinical) from virtually anywhere at any time. It is the tool designed by CMS to enable facilities to meet - 494.180(h) of the updated CfCs, published on April 15, 2008. This section outlines the electronic submission of administrative and clinical data by all Medicare-certified dialysis facilities in the United States - a move away from the current paper-based data-collection methods. CMS is leveraging this tool to streamline how the renal community will both report, and access facility level, and patient level data. Through this acquisition, CMS' Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ) aims to support the ESRD user community during the post-national release period as facility-level data submission into CROWNWeb becomes mandatory nationwide. CROWNWeb will provide a single, central database used by all ESRD facilities, Networks, and CMS as a repository for 100% of clinical data to support various program goals such as national quality improvement projects, public reporting, and value based purchasing as defined by the Quality Incentive Payment (QIP) Program. There is a need to provide continuous communications and supportive training as new QIP system enhancements/changes are released. The Training, Communication, and Outreach Contractor shall support CMS after national implementation of CROWNWeb to ensure the ESRD user community continues to submit clinical and administrative data electronically, is skillfully trained and prepared for using CROWNWeb, and its associated user authentication system (QIMS), to maintain compliance for monthly reporting. The Training, Communication, and Outreach Contractor shall deliver support to ESRD users through routine: (a) outreach and communications, (b) on-line/WebEx training, (c) reference source materials - guides, manuals, videos. The Contractor shall continue outward communications to approximately 25,000 account users, using up-to-date user accounts and/or subscription list. The CROWNWeb training program must educate current ESRD community users and proactively address the future training needs of the new user community with each CROWNWeb system release.