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Date: Wednesday, Feb. 21, 1996 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: AHCPR Public Affairs, 301/594-1364, Karen Migdail ext. 174, and Paula Zeller ext. 148
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research today announced the members of three consortia who will implement a major new initiative to assist consumers in selecting high-quality health care plans and services. The project, entitled Consumer Assessments of Health Plans Study (CAHPS), consists of cooperative agreements totaling $10 million over five years with three consortia headed by Research Triangle Institute, the RAND Corporation and Harvard University.
AHCPR Administrator Clifton R. Gaus, Sc.D., said "Surveys by objective, non-government polling firms have shown that most Americans would like to have more information to help them choose hospitals, doctors and health care plans. We have brought together the nation's top experts in patient satisfaction and survey research to develop and test best methods for measuring consumers' satisfaction with their health plans and methods for communicating the results to consumers."
The surveys will be tested at several demonstration sites throughout the country, and will focus on a variety of health plans and service delivery settings, including HMOs, fee-for-service plans and public health clinics offering services to low-income individuals. CAHPS surveys, and reports for consumers based on survey information, will be tested at each of these sites. In the final phase of the project, CAHPS researchers will determine if the survey-based reports for consumers actually improve their ability to select appropriate health plans and services.
Dr. Gaus said that CAHPS differs from other efforts at consumer assessment of health plans in some critical ways. "Most of the existing survey instruments are limited to assessment of consumer satisfaction with plans," he said. "Surveys developed under CAHPS will ask consumers about additional areas of importance to them, including their access to care, their use of plan services--or reasons for not using services--and their rating of the quality of care they received and the outcomes of that care."
According to Robert M. Krughoff, president of the Center for the Study of Services/Consumers Checkbook Magazine, "Consumers who are trying to choose health plans that best meet their needs want to know--and need to know--about current plans members' experience with the plans. We expect the CAHPS effort will produce a high-quality, broadly accepted set of questionnaires and ways of reporting results--enabling consumers to compare plans on a uniform footing nationwide."
Several fundamental questions provide the basis for each survey item to be developed under CAHPS, including: "How will this information help consumers spend their health care dollars more effectively?" and "How will this empower consumers to choose high-quality plans at a cost and coverage level appropriate for their budgets and families?"
The project also will help managed care organizations with their efforts to provide high-quality care. "We know that virtually all Health Maintenance Organizations depend on patient satisfaction surveys for continuous quality improvement," said Karen Ignani, president of the Group Health Association of America. "The AHCPR research investment in systems to measure patient satisfaction will improve health care quality and services."
A related contract awarded by AHCPR to Westat, Inc., will assure that the survey instruments and communication devices developed under CAHPS get into the hands of consumers, employers, plans, unions and other interested parties as quickly as possible. Under terms of the Survey User Network (SUN) contract, Westat will also provide technical assistance for users of the survey in order to facilitate their use. Funding for the first year of support is $497,000.
Questions regarding the CAHPS and SUN projects should be directed to Christine Crofton, Ph.D., or Charles Darby, M.A., at 301/594-1352.
Research Triangle Institute (RTI) Consortium Lisa Adatto Jim Lubalin, Ph.D., Health Services and Policy Research Program, Research Triangle Institute BENOVA Lauren Burnbauer, Ph.D. Steve Garfinkel, Ph.D. Deborah Gibbs, M.S.P.H. Judy T. Lynch, Survey Operations, Research Triangle Institute Rick Lennox Research Triangle Institute Barbara H. Forsyth, Ph.D. Jeanne McGee, Ph.D., McGee & Evers Consulting, Inc Department of Survey Methods Research Research Triangle Institute Barbara Sasso Shoshanna Sofaer, Dr.P.H Judith Hibbard, Dr.P.H. Division of Research Programs Department of Planning, Public Department of Health Care Policy, and Management Sciences University of Oregon George Washington University Medical Center Elizabeth W. Hoy, M.H.A. Institute for Health Policy SolutionsHarvard Consortium Cary Sennett Sherrie Kaplan National Committee for Quality New England Medical Center Assurance Paul D. Cleary, Ph.D. Susan Kleimann, Ph.D. Arnold M. Epstein, M.D., M.A. Information Design Center Ed Guadagnoli, Ph.D. American Institutes for Department of Health Care Research Policy Harvard Medical School Donald Rubin Alan Zaslavsky Susan Edgman-Levitan Department of Statistics Lee Hargraves Harvard Medical School David Veroff The Picker Institute Rachel Spilka, Ph.D. Information Design Center Floyd Jackson Fowler, Jr., Ph.D. American Institutes for Center for Survey Research Research University of Massachusetts Bob Gris Center on Disability and Health Charles Homer Children's HospitalRAND Consortium Sandra H. Berry, M.A. Ron Hays, Ph.D. Julie Brown David Kanouse, Ph.D. Jim Gillogly Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Caren Kamberg M.B.A., Ph.D. Matt Lewis Department of Social Policy Grant Marshall RAND Beth McGlynn Sally Morton J. Allison Mayer-Oakes, M.D. Pamela F. Short, Ph.D. M.S.P.H. Mark Spranca Research and Policy Division RAND The MEDSTAT Group Pauline Daniels, M.P.H. Member Services Department United Health Plan