Standards for CAHPS Health Plan and Clinician & Group Surveys

All submissions of CAHPS Survey results to the CAHPS Database must comply with the following guidelines. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in your data not being included in the database and may compromise our ability to provide you with a Participants Report.

• Survey instruments must include all core questions from the CAHPS Survey. If you omit any of these questions, your data will be excluded from the national benchmarks for these questions and corresponding composites.
• Survey instruments must not alter the wording of any core questions. If you alter the wording, response options, or response values of these questions, your data will be excluded from the national benchmarks for these questions and corresponding composites.
• Survey instruments must not omit any of the survey items related to respondent characteristics. These items are used to adjust individual plan results for case mix. If you fail to provide this data, your results will not be included in the database.
• Characteristics for adults: Respondent's age, education, and self reported health status.
• Characteristics for children: Parent's age, parent's education, child's age, and parent's rating of child's health status