CAHPS® Child Survey Sponsor Profiles

The following seven profiles of CAHPS® Child Survey Sponsors demonstrate the variety of CAHPS® Child Survey Projects either currently underway or recently completed. For more information about individual projects, please contact the individual identified by the sponsor. For more information about CAHPS® or the Child Survey, please CAHPS® Helpline toll free at 1-800-492-9261 or E-mail CAHPS1@ahrq.gov.

Sponsoring Organization: Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing,
Office of Public and Private Initiatives
Contact: Sandra Desanto
Phone: 303-866-5879
E-mail: sandra.desanto@state.co.us
Project Year: 2001
Populations Surveyed: Child Medicaid Managed Care and Fee-for-Service

Project Summary:

In 2002, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing conducted a CAHPS® project involving seven plans: five HMOs, one PCCM and one FFS. They surveyed adult and child Medicaid recipients by both mail and phone, according protocol. Results will be available either in report card format or full report, designed with these target audiences in mind: health plans, Medicaid clients, legislators, and advocates.

Sponsoring Organization: Kansas Foundation for Medical Care, Inc.
Contact: Winona Dickson
Phone: 785-273-2552
E-mail: wdickson@kfmc.org
Project Year: 2002
Populations Surveyed: Foundation for Medicaid Managed Care

Project Summary:

The Kansas Foundation for Medical Care, Inc. (KFMC) sponsored CAHPS® to survey the State of Kansas HealthConnect Kansas Medicaid population. They surveyed 1,275 adults and 2,925 children by administering the survey via a five-wave mail protocol. The child sample consisted of 1,650 children with probable chronic conditions. This is the second year KFMC has administered the child CAHPS® survey that included the Children with Special Health Care Needs module and data collection ended July 19, 2002. Results of the study were presented in the form of a policy report. The data from the study was submitted to the National CAHPS® Benchmarking Database (NCBD).

The Kansas Foundation for Medical Care has sponsored CAHPS® surveys for five years and plans to sponsor Medicaid CAHPS® for Kansas again next year.

Sponsoring Organization: Michigan Department of Community Health,
Comprehensive Health Plan Division
Contact: Joyce Hight
Phone: 517-335-5246
E-mail: hightj@michigan.gov
Project Year: 2003
Populations Surveyed: Adult and Child Medicaid Managed Care and Fee-for-Service

Project Summary:

In 2002, Michigan collected adult and child data from 19 HMOs and Fee-for-Service Plans. They also fielded the Children with Chronic Conditions screener. All data was collected per NCQA specifications. Their third-party vendor will produce a plan-specific report using NCQA comparisons. A consumer guide is published on the web at www.michigan.gov./mdch.

In 2003, Michigan will collect data from 18 Medicaid contracted HMOs and Fee-for-Service Plans using the 3.0H adult and child CAHPS® protocol. Michigan's vendor will create statewide and plan-specific reports. Annually, Michigan produces a Medicaid Consumer Guide to assist new enrollees in choosing their health plan. The guide will be released to the public and made available on the State's Web site.

Sponsoring Organization: New Mexico Health Policy Commission
Contact: Kim Price
Phone: 505-424-3200
E-mail: kprice@hpc.state.nm.us
Project Year: 2003
Populations Surveyed: Adult and Child Commercial and Child Medicaid Managed Care

Project Summary:

The New Mexico Health Policy Commission (HPC) will collect CAHPS® data for five commercial plans and three Medicaid plans in 2003. The HPC participates as the New Mexico health plan sponsor in the National CAHPS® Benchmarking Database (NCBD). Per New Mexico statute, the HPC reports the commercial adult data publicly in December to consumers through the New Mexico Consumer Guide to Managed Care, a Web site (www.healthlinknm.org/guide), and a brochure. The plans have a 30-day period to review the guide before it goes public. The HPC recently published the 6th annual consumer guide. The HPC's first annual hospital guide was released in August 2002.

Sponsoring Organization: Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Office of Medical Assistance Programs
Contact: Laurie Rock
Phone: 717-772-4650
E-mail: Lrock@state.pa.us
Project Year: 2002
Populations Surveyed: Child Medicaid Managed Care

Project Summary:

In its fifth year of conducting CAHPS®, The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare collected CAHPS® information from seven MCOs. The Department conducts the Child Medicaid Managed Care survey with the Chronic Conditions Screener. The MCOs conducted the CAHPS® activities with the help of certified vendors. The surveys were administered both by mail and telephone. The resulting information is used in a variety of quality improvement activities, including a brochure, A Consumer's Guide to the HealthChoices Health Plans, that provides comparative MCO information for Pennsylvania's Medicaid consumers.

Sponsoring Organization: Utah Department of Health (DOH), Office of Health Care Statistics
Contact: Chung-won Lee
Phone: 801-538-6551
E-mail: chungwonlee@utah.gov
Project Year: 2002
Populations Surveyed: Child Medicaid Managed Care and Fee-for-Service

Project Summary:

Utah Department of Health (UDOH) collected CAHPS® in 2002 from four Medicaid, six Commercial, and three SCHIP plans (child only with chronic supplement). The UDOH works in collaboration with Utah health plans and other state agencies (Utah Medicaid Program, Utah CHIP, and Utah Department of Insurance), and submits Medicaid data to NCBD. Utah participated in NCBD in 2002, submitting their Medicaid data.

Sponsoring Organization: Washington State Medical Assistance Administration, Division of Medical Management
Contact: Becky McAninch-Dake
Phone: 360-725-1622
E-mail: mcanibj@dshs.wa.gov
Project Year: 2003
Populations Surveyed: Adult and Child Medicaid Managed Care

Project Summary:

Washington Medical Assistance Administration (MAA) is applying a rotating schedule for the collection of CAHPS® data. In 2003, six health plans are required to use the Adult Medicaid CAHPS® survey following HEDIS specifications and turn their results over to MAA's External Quality Review Organization for analysis. In 2004, MAA will conduct the Children's Medicaid CAHPS® survey following HEDIS specifications. The rotation cycle for children also includes a State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) sample.

The rotation schedule will be reviewed in 2005, to make sure that trends are monitored appropriately. Enrollment material sent to clients for plan choice consists of a 5-page guide to Healthy Options (Medicaid Managed Care), a cover letter, an individualized sign-up form with known data fields already completed, and plan pages specific to the client's zip code area. Plan pages are two-fold, with plan information occupying the top half of the page and CAHPS® data on composite areas in the lower half of the page. In 2003, plan pages are reversible with Children with Chronic Condition CAHPS® scores on the back.

Return to Examples of How States Use Quality Measures

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Internet Citation:

Child Health Care Quality Toolbox: CAHPS® Child Survey Sponsor Profiles. July 2004. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/chtoolbx/cahpspro.htm