CAHPS Clinician & Group Narrative Item Set
Originally known as the Narrative Elicitation Protocol, the first CAHPS Narrative Item Set asks patients about their experiences in ambulatory care settings. The items were developed to be used with the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey (CG-CAHPS) but they can also be used on their own.
Questions in the Narrative Item Set for the Clinician & Group Survey
There are two slightly different versions of the Narrative Item Set for the Clinician & Group Survey:
- A Narrative Item Set for the Clinician & Group Survey 3.0/3.1, which asks patients about their experiences over the last 6 months: These supplemental items are available in English and Spanish for both the Adult and Child versions of the survey.
- Review the CG-CAHPS 3.0/3.1 Narrative Item Set for adults.
- Review the CG-CAHPS 3.0/3.1 Narrative Item Set for children.
- A Narrative Item Set for the Clinician & Group Visit Survey 4.0 (beta), which asks patients about their most recent visit: These supplemental items are available in English for the Adult version of the survey.
There are five questions in the Adult version and six questions in the Child version:
- The first question asks respondents to say what they are looking for in a health care provider and his or her staff.
- The second question asks the respondent to comment on the provider and his or her staff vis-à-vis those characteristics.
- The third and fourth questions ask the respondent to elaborate on what went well or could have been better.
- The fifth question asks about the relationship between the patient and the provider.
In the Child version, the fifth question asks specifically about the parent and provider's relationship; a sixth question asks about the relationship between the child and the provider.
View the infographic: Narrative Item Set for the Clinician & Group Survey (PDF, 202 KB)
Because of the sequential design of the questions, they are meant to be used together in the order specified. For example, the first question is designed to prompt respondents to state the most important things they look for in a health care provider so that they have those things in mind when answering the subsequent questions. The CAHPS team strongly recommends against reordering the questions or selecting a subset of the questions for partial use.
Administering the Clinician & Group Narrative Item Set
Organizations interested in using the CG-CAHPS Narrative Item Set can consult Administering the CAHPS Clinician & Group Narrative Item Set (PDF, 295 KB). This guidance is based on the testing of these items in real-world conditions and addresses the following issues:
- Placing the items in the survey.
- Using the items on their own.
- Introducing the items.
- Editing the items.
- Drawing a sample.
- Collecting the data.
- Invitations and reminder letters and emails.
- Anticipated response time.
- Anticipated length of comments.
- Oversight of vendors.
Learn More About the Clinician & Group Narrative Item Set (Elicitation Protocol)
- Webcast: Learning from Patient Narratives Through Innovative Feedback Reporting Methods (Webcast) (May 31, 2023)
- Webcast: The Power of Patient Stories for Improving the Patient Experience (Webcast) (May 12, 2022)
- Webcast: CAHPS Patient Narrative Item Sets (November 16, 2021)
- Webcast: Implementing the New CAHPS Protocol for Obtaining Patient Comments About Their Care (October 2018)
- Webcast: Introducing a Protocol To Obtain Patient Comments Using the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey (January 2017)
Brief History
The original beta version of the Clinician & Group Narrative Item Set was released in early 2017. In June 2021, AHRQ released the final versions of these items for the 3.0/3.1 and 4.0 versions of the Clinician & Group Survey.
Learn more about the development of the CAHPS Clinician & Group Narrative Item Set.
