Email UpdatesConsumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS)
In 2015, Version 3.0 was released.
The information below pertains to Version 2.0:
The CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey refers to three instruments that ask patients about their experiences with doctors and their office staff. The three instruments include a 12-Month Survey (Adult and Child), Expanded 12-Month Survey with Patient-Centered Medical Home Items (Adult and Child) and a Visit Survey (Adult and Child).
The domains listed below include all relevant domains from adult and child surveys, including supplemental modules.
a. Getting timely appointments, information, and care
b. Provider communication with patients
c. Helpful, courteous, and respectful office staff
d. Provider’s (doctor’s) advice on keeping your child safe and healthy
e. Provider’s (doctor’s) attention to your child’s growth and development
f. Patient-centered medical home items set
- Providers pay attention to your mental or emotional health (adult only)
- Providers support you in taking care of your own health
- Providers discuss medication decisions (adult only)
g. Cultural competence item set
- Providers give advice on staying healthy
- Providers are caring and inspire trust
h. Health information technology item set
- Getting timely answers to medical questions by e-mail
- Helpfulness of provider’s use of computers during a visit
- Helpfulness of provider’s Web site in giving you information about your care and tests
- Getting timely appointments through e-mail or a Web site
Each questionnaire consists of a standard set of core items that must be administered. Optional supplemental items to capture information about patients’ experiences in specific areas can also be added. Besides survey data, administrative clinical and medical record data are also incorporated.
The Center for Survey Research (CSR) at the University of Massachusetts Boston, under the aegis of Yale Medical School’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, developed and tested a revised version of this CAHPS instrument for children. This work was funded by The Commonwealth Fund.
The survey instrument underwent a multistage development process, including focus groups, cognitive interviews, a telephone pretest, and a field test. CSR received stakeholder input from the American Board of Pediatrics as well as from parents and guardians through focus groups and cognitive interviews.
The questionnaire was field tested in Massachusetts by surveying parents or guardians of a sample of children (n=1,000) who had been seen at a doctor's office in the previous 12-month period. The mixed-mode, dual language (English and Spanish) field test included both mailed questionnaires and telephone administration.
- Setting. Primary care (outpatient)
- Population. Adult and Child primary care patients
- Level of evaluation. Health care professionals
The contract that supports the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) program expired on June 27, 2012. This will result in a delay in updating the data that compose the CAHPS Database for the SECOND HALF OF CALENDAR YEAR 2012. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is now working to award a new CAHPS contract, and when it is in place, the benchmarking database will be updated with the latest data available, including data collected in 2012. Additional information can be found on the CAHPS Web site.
All CAHPS surveys are in the public domain, which means that anyone can download and use these surveys to assess experiences with care. Users of CAHPS survey results include patients and consumers, quality monitors and regulators, provider organizations, health plans, community collaboratives, and public and private purchasers of health care. These individuals and organizations use the survey results to inform their decisions and to improve the quality of health care services.