AHCPR Announces Appointment of CAHPS® Advisory Group

Press Release Date: July 11, 1996

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) today announced the members of the Advisory Group for the Consumer Assessments of Health Plans Study (CAHPS®).

CAHPS® is a 5-year project to help consumers select high-quality health care plans and services appropriate for their needs. The goals of CAHPS® are: to develop and test survey instruments with which to obtain assessments of health plans and services from consumers, to develop easily understandable reports to convey survey information back to consumers, and to evaluate the usefulness of these reports to consumers in selecting health care plans and services.

The Advisory Group was appointed by the three consortia, led by Research Triangle Institute, the RAND Corporation and Harvard University, which are implementing the CAHPS® project under cooperative agreements with AHCPR. The Advisory Group will advise the consortia members on implementing the CAHPS® surveys in the real world.

The Group also is charged with helping to find appropriate demonstration or testing sites, and helping to disseminate information about CAHPS® products and encourage their use.

According to AHCPR Administrator Clifton R. Gaus, Sc.D., "The members of the Advisory Group are individuals with solid track records in developing and advocating science-based information to improve the quality of health care. Their input will help ensure that CAHPS® plays an important role in how consumers choose and use health care services."

The Advisory Group is scheduled to meet twice per year until 1998, and then once per year thereafter.

The members of the Advisory Group are:

Rina Alcalay
Associate Professor
Department of Rhetoric and
Communications
UC Davis

Christina Bethell
Director of Accountability Measurement
Foundation for Accountability

Carol Cronin
Senior Vice President
Health Pages

Helen Darling
Manager, Health Care Strategy and Programs
Corporate Benefits
Xerox Corporation

Joyce Dubow
Senior Policy Advisor
Public Policy Institute
American Association of Retired Persons

Vicki Gates
Administrator
Oregon Health Plan

George Isham, M.D.
Medical Director
Health Partners

Mary Kennedy
Director, Performance Measurement and Quality Improvement Division
Department of Health and Human Services
Minnesota Medicaid

Jeffrey Koplan
President
Prudential Center for Health Care Research

Robert Krughoff
President
Center for the Study of Services

Catherine Kunkle
Vice President
National Business Coalition on Health

Jim Mortimer
President
Midwest Business Group on Health

Mark Smith, M.D.
Vice President
Kaiser Family Foundation

Dan Wolfson
President and CEO
HMO Group

For additional information, contact AHCPR Public Affairs: Karen Migdail, (301) 427-1855 or Salina Prasad, (301) 427-1864.