Introducing the NRI Psychiatric Inpatient Experience (PIX) Survey!

Are you ready to elevate the quality of care in your inpatient psychiatric facility? The NRI Performance and Quality Improvement (NRI-PQI) Division is thrilled to announce the launch of the NRI Psychiatric Inpatient Experience (PIX) Survey, effective January 1, 2026! An innovative survey redesign of PIX is now available for reporting within the Behavioral Health Performance Measurement System (BHPMS) in both paper and electronic (PIXe) versions.

Why the PIX Survey?

• Mandatory for CMS IPFQR Program Participants: Starting in 2026, inpatient psychiatric facilities participating in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) must collect PIX Survey data. NRI’s BHPMS will report this data to CMS for facilities that choose NRI. 
• Optional for Non-CMS Participants: Facilities not participating in the CMS IPFQR program can also select the PIX Survey measures to gain valuable insight related to their patient’s experience receiving care. These facilities will also have access to resources only available within NRI. 

Benefits of Submitting PIX Survey Data to NRI-PQI:

• Partner with SMEs on Patient Reported Measures: PQI staff are highly experienced in using surveys to collect patient experience and outcome data in inpatient psychiatric facilities.
• Progress Tracking: Access information about your facility’s progress toward goals, including the number of surveys completed (CMS allows sampling with a minimum of 300 surveys annually) and the facility’s completion rate.
• Benchmarking: Compare your mean rates against other facilities with similar bed sizes or populations served, such as forensic facilities. 
• Insight: Evaluate your rate next to demographic information about your population served. Evaluate trends that may have a relationship to milieu factors. 
• Resources:  Compare your response rates to other facilities as the year progresses, determine if adjustments are needed. Share improvement ideas, lessons learned in survey administration planning and staff training materials with other member facilities within the NRI-PQI BHPMS member secure website.
• Timely Feedback: Receive instant feedback from live reports, which are generated as soon as data is processed in the BHPMS, supporting prompt decision-making for quality initiatives.

Survey Highlights:

• Comprehensive Questions: The PIX Survey includes 23 questions for patients aged 13 and older, to be completed within 24 hours of discharge. The questions evaluate the patient experience, and offer mean scores related to Treatment Team Relationship domain score, Environment domain score, Treatment Effectiveness domain score, and Nursing Team Presence domain score. The NRI-PQI version also includes optional demographic questions.
• Public Reporting: Survey results for facilities that participate in the CMS IPFQR program will be publicly reported on Medicare’s Care Compare website. 

Additional Features available with the NRI-PQI PIX Survey:

• Electronic Submission: Enjoy the ease of electronic submission with NRI’s PIX Survey electronic fillable form for tablet or desktop use.
• Color Blindness Emojis: Our PIX survey includes color blindness emojis to assist in completion.
• Customization at No Additional Cost: Want to track your own optional questions? Submit questions to the NRI PQI staff and we will customize a tool that fits your needs at no extra cost. 

Contact Us Today! Ready to learn more about the PIX Survey? Contact NRI’s Associate Director of PQI, Brijette Morris, at [email protected]. You can also send an email to [email protected]. 

Elevate your facility’s performance with data you can trust. Choose the PIX Survey by NRI-PQI!