Questions and Answers About the Outpatient Mental Health Survey

These questions and answers are drawn from an October 2024 CAHPS webcast introducing the Outpatient Mental Health Survey.

Is the Outpatient Mental Health Survey replacing the ECHO 3.0 survey?

The Outpatient Mental Health Survey was developed with the intent that it would eventually replace the ECHO survey.

Will the ECHO survey be discontinued?

There are no immediate plans to discontinue the ECHO survey. It is still available to access on the AHRQ CAHPS website. 

With many mental health patients being homeless, what methods do you offer to reach this population?

The CAHPS team recommends multi-mode survey protocols but does not have specific advice about homeless individuals. However, there is growing literature about this topic.

How do we engage those eligible for the survey, and the action steps based on the data or feedback?

The CAHPS Ambulatory Care Improvement Guide does not provide specific information about behavioral health issues but provides a wealth of information about action steps.

Are there plans to provide national benchmarks?

There are currently no plans to provide national benchmarks. Decisions about what to include on the CAHPS Databases depend on volume of use and interest.

What is the vision for who would administer the survey?

To date, state Medicaid programs have been major users, but the survey could be administered by other entities interested in their patients’ experiences.

How would I get permission to adapt the survey for private or organizational use? Is it okay to use only part of the questions?

The survey is trademarked, so to be able to refer to it as a CAHPS survey, use of the entire survey is required. Users can adapt specific questions as long as they do not refer to the survey as a CAHPS survey.

My hospital system uses a vendor to collect patient experience surveys. Can we add this to the list of questions that the vendor asks?

The Outpatient Mental Health Survey is designed for outpatients, though a survey for inpatients is under development. Vendors are free to administer all CAHPS surveys.