The Clinician & Group CAHPS Survey

ServiceTrac will now be offering the CG-CAHPS survey to clinicians and groups. We offer both the adult and child version of the survey and it can be administered via paper or phone. While this survey is not yet required by CMS, the questions offered provide valuable insights into your practice.  They are designed to help you assess the patient experience and find ways to improve the quality of that experience.

What is CG-CAHPS?

The CH-CAHPS survey allows patients to rate their recent experiences with doctors and staff at the offices. The CG-CAHPS survey includes both a standardized questionnaire and optional supplementary items for adults and children. The adult questionnaire can be used in both primary care and specialty care settings, whereas the child questionnaire is designed for primary care settings, but could be adapted for specialty care. In addition, there are supplemental question sets that can be added to customize questionnaires for the specific provider. The most up-to-date version, Version 3, came out in July 2015 for the adult survey. The updated child version is expected to be available in Fall 2015.

Why is CG-CAHPS important/What does it measure?

Survey results from CG-CAHPS can be used both to improve quality of care and to provide information that consumers need in order to make an informed decision about which provider or other medical organization(s) to use.

The CG-CAHPS survey measures various points of patient experience, including:

  • Timeliness of appointments, care and information
  • Communication of providers with patients
  • The use of information by providers in coordinating care
  • How the patient rates the provider
  • How helpful, courteous and respectful the office staff is
  • The follow up with patients regarding test results

In addition, the child version of the survey measures provider attention to the child growth and development as well as advice from the provider for keeping the child healthy and safe.

Supplemental Items for Additional Measurements

Survey administrators have the option of adding in supplemental questions in addition to the 31 core questions of the CG-CAHPS survey. There are four areas of supplemental items measure: cultural competence, health information technology, health literacy and patient-centered medical homes. The cultural competence supplemental questions measure how polite, considerate and trustworthy providers are. The health IT questions measure the timeliness of answers to questions via email, the helpfulness of both the providers’ use of computers during a visit and their website in providing information regarding care and tests, as well as the ability to get timely appointments via email or a website. The health literacy set measures how well providers communicate about medicines. Lastly, the patient-centered medical home questions measure the provider’s attention to mental and emotional health of the patient and talking about medication decisions, both of which are for adults only. For both adults and children, this set covers talking with the patient about taking care of their own health.

Reporting on CG-CAHPS

Reporting can be done two ways; users of CG-CAHPS can either report their survey results publically and/or privately. Public reporting can be used to assist consumers in comparing and choosing a provider. It is especially important for public reports to be concise and easy to read and digest. Private reporting is geared more towards stakeholders and other healthcare providers. This type of reporting should contain more in-depth, technical information to identify strengths, weaknesses, and can include the data from the supplemental sets even if there wasn’t sufficient information to be published publically.

For information about conducting a CG-CAHPS Survey, contact us at 855.398.0552