CAHPS Announcements
This webcast provided an overview of AHRQ's CAHPS surveys, and explained how they focus on patients' priorities, describe how they build on current research in survey development and administration, and discussed how organizations use survey results to improve patient experience.
Select to access a recording of the webcast and download related materials.
Results from the 2022 CAHPS Health Plan Survey Database are now available on the AHRQ's CAHPS Data Tools. The 2022 CAHPS Health Plan Survey Database includes 135,110 survey responses voluntarily submitted for Adult Medicaid, Child Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollee populations.
Selected results from the 2022 CAHPS Health Plan Survey Database include:
- How Well Doctors Communicate was the highest scoring composite measure.
- Getting Needed Care was the lowest scoring composite measure.
- Personal Doctor was the highest scoring rating item.
Learn more about the CAHPS Health Plan Survey Database.
Review results:
- 2022 Health Plan Survey Database Chartbook (PDF, 1.6 MB)
- 2022 Highlights: Infographic (PDF, 899 KB)
- AHRQ's CAHPS Data Tools
Results from the first year of the CAHPS Child Hospital Survey Database are now available in a Chartbook. The CAHPS Child Hospital Survey (Child HCAHPS) Database includes 5,858 survey responses voluntarily submitted by 11 hospitals that administered the survey in the calendar year 2021.
Key findings include:
- Communication Between You and Your Child’s Doctors was the highest scoring composite measure, with 88 percent of parents reporting that providers “always” listened carefully, explained things clearly, and treated parents with courtesy and respect.
- Privacy When Talking with Doctors, Nurses, and Other Providers was the highest scoring single-item measure, with 89 percent of parents reporting they were “always” given as much privacy as they wanted when discussing their child’s care with providers.
- Quietness of the Hospital Room was the lowest scoring single-item measure, with an average of 65 percent of parents reporting that their child’s room was quiet at night.
- Responsiveness to the Call Button was the second lowest scoring single-item measure, with an average of 67 percent of parents reporting that they received prompt help when they pressed the call button.
Learn more about the Child HCAHPS Database.
Review results:
- 2021 Child HCAHPS Survey Database Chartbook (PDF, 838 KB)
- 2021 Highlights: Infographic (PDF, 259 KB).
This webcast explored three free online tools that support the work of AHRQ’s Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) survey users.
- AHRQ Data Tools provide comparative data from selected CAHPS surveys, including top box scores, percentiles, and bar charts.
- CAHPS Analysis Program, commonly known as the CAHPS macro, allows survey users to conduct the analyses needed to produce valid comparisons of performance across similar healthcare organizations.
- "Your CAHPS Survey" enables users to assemble a customized survey instrument to meet their needs.
Select to access a recording of the webcast and download related materials.
In September 2022, AHRQ’s CAHPS program hosted a virtual Research Meeting on how CAHPS surveys shed light on disparities in patient experience and how improved measurement can advance healthcare equity. AHRQ Director, Dr. Robert Valdez, and Dr. Kamila Mistry, Associate Director, AHRQ Office of Extramural Research, Education and Priority Populations (OEREP), provided a welcome session to over 600 CAHPS survey users, researchers, healthcare organization leaders, patient advocates, policymakers, Federal partners, and the CAHPS Consortium.
Select to access a summary of the presentations and discussions (PDF, 919 KB). Abstracts of all session presentations are also available in the Appendix.
This AHRQ webcast provided an overview of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Narrative Item sets, and the insights that rigorously elicited and analyzed narratives can provide about patients’ experiences with care that cannot be captured via closed-ended survey questions alone. Speakers explained how patient narratives can help healthcare organizations address challenges and achieve successful quality improvement initiatives.
Select to access a recording of the webcast and download related materials.
This AHRQ webcast provided an overview of the new database for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Child Hospital Survey. Speakers reviewed the Child HCAHPS Survey and discussed the participation benefits.
Learn more about the CAHPS Child Hospital Survey.
Select to access the recording of the webcast and download related materials.
This AHRQ webcast provided an overview of CAHPS surveys and explained how they focus on patients' priorities and build on current research in survey development and administration. Speakers also discussed how organizations have used survey results.
Select to access the recording of the webcast and download related materials.
In August 2021, AHRQ released the final version of the Patient Narrative Item Set for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Clinician & Group Survey. In this AHRQ webcast, CAHPS researchers presented the narrative items for both the 3.0 and 4.0 versions of the Clinician & Group Survey and answered questions about using them. They also previewed Narrative Item Sets in development for the CAHPS Health Plan Survey and the Child HCAHPS Survey.
Learn more about the CAHPS Patient Narrative Item Sets.
Select to access the recording of the webcast and download related materials.
Results from the 2021 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Health Plan Survey Database are now available on the AHRQ Data Tools website.
The CAHPS Health Plan Survey asks enrollees about their recent experiences with their health plan and medical care. The 2021 CAHPS Health Plan Survey Database includes 154,209 survey responses voluntarily submitted for Adult Medicaid, Child Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollee populations.
AHRQ has released the final version of the Patient Narrative Item Set for the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey. These open-ended supplemental items offer patients the opportunity to provide details about their experiences with primary and specialty care, which produces actionable information for medical practices and groups. Narrative items are available for the 3.0, 3.1, and 4.0 versions of the survey.
New supplemental questions enable CAHPS survey users to gather information on patients' experiences with access to mental health care services, including therapy and medication.
The six questions can be added to either the CAHPS Health Plan Survey or the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey.
- Review supplemental mental health care items for the Health Plan Survey.
- Review supplemental mental health care items for the Clinician & Group Survey.
These new supplemental questions complement the CAHPS research team's ongoing work to develop and test a stand-alone survey designed to assess patient experience with care for mental or behavioral health issues. Learn more about CAHPS Mental Health Surveys.
Two new versions of the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey are now available to ensure that patients consider the care they have received by telehealth and in-person when reporting on their healthcare experiences.
- The new 3.1 version of the Clinician & Group Survey includes updates of the wording of some questions in the current Clinician & Group Survey 3.0. The 3.1 and 3.0 versions generate the same measures of patient experience with primary and specialty care and ask about care over the last 6 months.
- The 4.0 (beta) version released this past winter asks patients about their most recent visit.
Updated guidance on implementing the Clinician & Group Survey is also available.
In the first quarter of 2021, AHRQ hosted a series of three webcasts focused on supporting healthcare organizations in using CAHPS surveys to improve the experiences of their patients and enrollees.
- Lessons From Healthcare Organizations on Improving Patient Experience—Speakers discussed using CAHPS surveys to identify aspects of patient experience needing improvement, supplementing survey results with additional information, implementing strategies to provide a better patient and enrollee experience, and evaluating the impact of those changes.
- Improving Patient Experience: Data Analysis Methods—Speakers discussed their use of different data analysis methods to better understand patients' experiences, focus improvement efforts, identify potential solutions, and track the impact of interventions.
- Improving Patient Experience in Large Organizations—Speakers discussed their strategies for identifying aspects of patient experience needing improvement and implementing effective approaches across large, complex organizations.
The CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey Database suspended data submissions beginning in 2021 due to an anticipated decline in participation. All existing CG-CAHPS Database reporting products will continue to be available, including:
- The most recent years of data (2018 and 2019) posted on the Online Reporting System.
- The CG-CAHPS Chartbooks.
- The CG-CAHPS research datasets.
AHRQ will continue to support, maintain, and enhance the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey instruments.
In the fall of 2020, AHRQ released a new version of the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey. The Visit Survey 4.0 (beta) asks patients about their most recent ambulatory care visit. The tool helps providers understand and improve patients' experiences with any visit format, including telehealth visits.
In a webcast, speakers discussed the purpose and use of the new survey, its development and testing, topics covered by the survey, and how it differs from the Clinician & Group Survey 3.0. Access the webcast recording and download related materials: Introducing the CAHPS Clinician & Group Visit Survey 4.0 (Beta).
AHRQ has updated the CAHPS Analysis Program, commonly known as the CAHPS macro. The 5.0 version of the CAHPS macro adds new analysis options and updates the test SAS® data set and programs. The SAS-based CAHPS macro supports survey users in conducting the analyses needed to produce valid comparisons of performance across similar healthcare organizations.
Visit Analyzing CAHPS Survey Data to download the 5.0 version of the CAHPS macro with test modules as well as updated instructions for analysts using the program.
AHRQ has released a new 5.1 version of the CAHPS Health Plan Survey. This version includes minor changes to some of the instructions and survey items to indicate the different ways in which patients may be receiving care: in person or via telehealth.
In 2020, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is celebrating the 25th year of its Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) program. Thanks to this program, healthcare providers, health plans, public, and private purchasers can assess the healthcare experiences of adults and children using over a dozen research-based surveys. Survey users and researchers also have access to comparative data on patient experience and evidence-based guidance on improving and reporting on patient experience.
Read CAHPS®: 25 Years of Putting the Patient First, an AHRQ Views blog from Agency Director Gopal Khanna, M.B.A., and Caren Ginsberg, Ph.D.
Learn more about the evolution and impact of CAHPS.
In September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the CAHPS Emergency Department Survey (ED CAHPS) as a new way to assess patients' experience with emergency department care. Developed by RAND and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the survey is designed to provide meaningful and actionable information that EDs can use to improve their services. In an AHRQ webcast, speakers discussed how the survey was developed and tested; recommended modes of survey administration, including a web-based survey; results from several field implementations; and how to analyze the survey data.
Videos developed to promote the use of AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) surveys have won awards from groups that recognize excellence in communications.
Reasons to Choose a CAHPS Survey and Six Ways to Use CAHPS to Improve Patient Experience earned 2020 Communicator Awards for Excellence in Individual Nonprofit Online Videos. The latter video also received a 2020 Telly bronze award in the Government Relations for Branded Content category. These videos were funded by AHRQ and produced through a contract to Westat.
Given the rapid changes in healthcare delivery throughout the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers and health plans want to know how their efforts are affecting their patients. Feedback about patients' experiences with care can help healthcare professionals understand whether they are effectively meeting their patients' needs for care and information.
Assessing Patient Experience With Telehealth
- New survey to assess patient experience with any synchronous visit: One of the greatest changes in ambulatory medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic is the increase in telehealth visits, including phone and video calls. To better understand how patients' experiences vary across different modes of care delivery, the CAHPS Team has released a beta version of the Clinician & Group Visit Survey 4.0. This survey is designed to be applicable to any type of synchronous ambulatory care visit, regardless of whether the care was delivered in-person, by phone, or by video call.
- Adding supplemental items to assess telehealth. Users who want to learn about patients' experiences with patient portals and/or other technology may want to adapt existing CAHPS supplemental items:
- The CAHPS Health Information Technology Item Set includes questions about getting timely appointments through email or a website, getting timely answers to medical questions by email, and the helpfulness of a provider's website or patient portal with respect to providing information about care and tests.
- The supplemental items available for the topic "Access" includes questions about wait times for appointments, care delivered after regular office hours, and wait times for care.
- Administering CAHPS surveys to telehealth patients. Given the importance of assessing how well patient needs are being met with telehealth visits, healthcare organizations may want to include telehealth patients in the sampling frame for CAHPS surveys.
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