Patient Experience Surveys

CAHPS stands for Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. It is a family of standardized surveys that ask consumers and patients to report on and evaluate their experiences with health care.

CAHPS Surveys are a standardized tool that allows results to be publicly reported. The reasoning behind this is threefold:

• Increase the transparency of the quality of care provided by home health agencies
• Provide incentives for agencies to improve the quality of care that they provide
• Provide an avenue for the public to create "objective and meaningful comparisons between home health agencies, hospitals and clinics"

If you qualify as one of the following, you will be required to contract with a CMS-approved vendor for CAHPS administration:

• Medicare and Medicaid Certified Home Health Agencies
• Facilities that provide care to more than 60 non-duplicated Medicare/Medicaid patients annually
• Providers that have been assigned an ID number

All hospitals must participate in the CAHPS-Hospital with the exception of Critical Access Hospitals. However, in Minnesota, a Critical Access hospital that has a census of 500 admissions per year must participate in the CAHPS-Hospital.

CAHPS surveys can be conducted by mail only, by phone only, or by a "mixed" mode, a combination of mail and phone. MRHC conducts mail only surveys, as historically this mode is both the most economical and has the highest return rate thus is usually the preferred method.

MRHC offers a variety of methods of administering the other survey options. The customer determines how the surveys are distributed, handed out or mailed by the facility or mailed out by MRHC. MRHC also offers these surveys to be administered electronically, using a portable device, a kiosk, or a survey sent via text or email.

We experience a 40 – 50% return rate. The average or standard return rate for mail only surveys is 30%. We attribute this to our timeliness in sending out the survey following the patient visit, and customizing the cover letter, survey and envelope with each facilities logo to increase facility recognition for the patient.

We are currently accepting new clinics, hospitals, hospice and home health agencies. Call us at 877-481-6251 or fill out our contact form to start the process today.

At MRHC we have an annual fee and a per piece mailing fee. There are no setup charges for mailed surveys. For special reporting requests or pricing for electronic surveys contact us at 877-481-6251.