US · guidance
CMS Pub. 100-09, ch. 6, § 70.1.3
Average Speed of Answer
The average speed of answer (ASA) is the average time callers spend waiting in the telephone CSR
queue before connecting to a telephone CSR. When determining the ASA, the wait time starts when the
caller enters the telephone CSR queue and ends when the caller is connected to a telephone CSR. MACs
are held to quarterly ASA performance standards on their PCC line(s). The ASA standard is applied to
the speed at which the initial call is answered by a telephone CSR. Should the caller need to be
transferred to another level CSR, the time associated with that transfer shall not be included in the ASA
calculation. MACs shall maintain an ASA of 60 seconds or less. This standard is measured quarterly
and is cumulative for the quarter.
MACs shall email the service reports mailbox by 11:00 am ET when the ASA on the PCC line(s) exceeds
the applicable quarterly standard for the previous business day. The email shall specify the daily, month
to date and quarter to date ASA for the jurisdiction and if the elevation in ASA was impacted, or
partially impacted, by staffing, call volume, or technical telecommunications or connectivity issues. The
email shall be sent with the subject line “ASA.”
History
(Rev. 13683; Issued: 04-08-26; Effective: 05-08-26; Implementation: 05-08-26)
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-25
- Edition
- iom-2026-08-25
- Content hash
9960f8ca289f446b270cb8b92f6a3dfe5ddb07d2ae7d9c9d745bb54a5f699906
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