Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Program

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Program supports survey development, voluntary databases, and research on patient experience with healthcare.  AHRQ-funded researchers develop scientifically valid tools and feasible strategies to:

• Assess patient experience.
• Help organizations use the results to improve the quality of care.
• Report survey results.

Read more about the CAHPS program.

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CAHPS Surveys and Databases

CAHPS surveys include multiple instruments that assess patients’ experiences with providers, health plans and related programs, and healthcare facilities. These surveys enable healthcare providers, purchasers, and regulators to evaluate, compare, and improve patients' experiences in different healthcare settings.  

The CAHPS Databases aggregate data on four patient experience surveys: 

• The CAHPS Health Plan Survey (HP CAHPS) asks enrollees about their experiences with health plans and their services. 
• The CAHPS Home and Community-Based Services Survey (HCBS CAHPS) is designed to assess the experiences of adult Medicaid beneficiaries who receive long-term services and support from state HCBS programs.
• The CAHPS Child Hospital Survey (Child HCAHPS) asks parents or caregivers of pediatric patients to report on their recent experiences with inpatient care. 
• The CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey (CG-CAHPS) asks patients to report on their experiences with providers and staff in group practices and medical offices. 

The CAHPS Databases contain voluntarily submitted data that are not representative of a specific population. Organizations that submit data receive a customized feedback report. The CAHPS Program produces an annual chartbook of all (de-identified) data. In addition, aggregated data are available on the AHRQ Data Tools web page. The CAHPS Data Tools present an overview of CAHPS survey data in chartbooks and explore the data in depth through bar charts, top box results, and percentiles.