Celebrating 25 Years of the CAHPS Program

Timeline

The timeline below provides a historical portrait of the CAHPS program and its impact.

• 1995
  • AHRQ launches the CAHPS program.
    AHRQ awards its first 5-year cooperative agreements and contracts to conduct and support research for the CAHPS program, reflecting a strategic repositioning of the agency’s priorities to recognize the role of the consumer. Collectively, AHRQ and these organizations are known as the CAHPS Consortium. The CAHPS Consortium is responsible for conceiving, developing, testing, and refining CAHPS surveys based on what matters most to patients and consumers. The participating organizations also conduct research on the various uses of CAHPS survey findings, and best methods to collect patient experience information.
• 1996
  • AHRQ holds the first national CAHPS User Group Meeting.
    The 12 User Group Meetings held between 1996 and 2010 brought together hundreds of researchers and users of the surveys and data to share new developments, improvement initiatives, and research findings.
• 1997
  • AHRQ releases the first CAHPS survey for health plans.
    AHRQ’s first standardized survey collects information on enrollees’ experiences with health plans. The survey has evolved in response to changes in healthcare delivery and health plan structures, research findings, and feedback from key stakeholders. Every year, millions of Americans enrolled in commercial, Medicare, Medicaid and state health care exchange plans report on their experiences using a CAHPS survey.
• 1997
  • AHRQ releases free SAS-based program and detailed instructions to support analyses of CAHPS survey data.
    The CAHPS Analysis Program, or CAHPS Macro, produces valid comparisons of performance across health care organizations.
• 1998
  • AHRQ launches the Health Plan Survey Database.
    The first CAHPS Database was developed in response to the growing demand for comparative information for the CAHPS Health Plan Survey. Hundreds of health plans, purchaser groups, State agencies, and others have participated in this database by submitting yearly survey results.
• 2001
  • AHRQ releases TalkingQuality to support public reporting.
    TalkingQuality offers guidance on how to convey patient experience measures and other useful comparative information about healthcare quality in a way that is understandable and useful to consumers.
• 2002
  • AHRQ partners with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS).
    HCAHPS is the first national, standardized, and publicly reported survey of patients' experiences with hospital care. Endorsed by the National Quality Forum in 2005, HCAHPS has been implemented nationally by CMS since 2006 with results reported to the public since 2008.
• 2005
  • The CAHPS name changes to reflect expanded scope.
    Originally, "CAHPS" was an acronym for "Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study." In 2005, the name was changed to "Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems" to reflect a broader focus on consumers' and patients' experiences with different aspects of the healthcare system.
• 2006
  • AHRQ releases the CAHPS In-Center Hemodialysis Survey.
    In response to a need first identified by the US Office of the Inspector General, AHRQ collaborated with CMS to develop a standardized survey for patients with end-stage renal disease.
• 2007
  • AHRQ releases the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey.
    The Clinician & Group Survey assesses patients' experiences in physician offices and medical groups in ambulatory care settings. This survey has evolved to address the evolving needs and preferences of patients, the changing circumstances of its users, and changes in healthcare delivery.
• 2009
  • AHRQ releases the CAHPS Home Health Care Survey.
    At CMS’s request, AHRQ developed the CAHPS Home Health Survey to better evaluate and understand the quality of care provided by home healthcare agencies. Survey results are publicly reported on Home Health Compare.
• 2010
  • AHRQ launches the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey Database.
    The Clinician & Group Survey Database was developed in response to the growing demand for comparative results for the Clinician & Group Survey.
• 2011
  • The CAHPS Ambulatory Care Improvement Guide is released.
    The CAHPS Ambulatory Care Improvement Guide offers advice and strategies to help health plans, medical groups, and other ambulatory care providers improve their patients’ experiences with care. An updated Guide was published in 2016.
• 2011
  • AHRQ releases the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Item Set.
    The PCMH item set assesses patients’ experiences in practices serving as medical homes. It can be added to the adult and child versions of the CAHPS Clinician & Group survey. AHRQ developed the PCMH Item Set in collaboration with the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
• 2014
  • AHRQ releases the CAHPS Child Hospital Survey (Child HCAHPS).
    Child HCAHPS asks parents to report on both their child's inpatient experience and their own experience with their child's inpatient stay. In contrast to the Adult Hospital Survey, which is implemented by CMS, the Child Hospital Survey is fully supported by AHRQ's CAHPS User Network.
• 2016
  • The Cancer Care Survey receives the CAHPS trademark.
    Developed by AHRQ and the Outcomes Research Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Cancer Care Survey aims to support the efforts of cancer centers, oncology practices, hospitals, and health systems to improve the patient-centeredness of cancer care.
• 2017
  • AHRQ releases a beta version of a Patient Narrative Elicitation Protocol for the Clinician & Group Survey.
    AHRQ supports research on eliciting patients' comments about their care, with the goal of developing a method for collecting patient narrative information that is as scientifically grounded and rigorous as the CAHPS closed-ended questions. This first narrative item set prompts survey respondents to tell a clear and comprehensive story about their experiences with their healthcare provider and the staff in his or her office.
• 2017
  • AHRQ creates a resource to share research on survey design and administration.
    As part of an ongoing effort to ensure the reliability of CAHPS survey data and the feasibility of CAHPS surveys, CAHPS researchers continually investigate and test the impact of different survey modes and formats, including electronic modes. Key findings were shared in a research meeting held in 2016.
• 2020
  • AHRQ launches the Home and Community-Based Services Survey Database.
    Created in partnership with CMS, the Home and Community-Based Services Survey Database contains results submitted by State Medicaid agencies and the managed care entities with which they contract.