Frequently Asked Questions on CG-CAHPS

Q: What is CAHPS?
A: CAHPS originally stood for Consumer Assessment of Health Plan Survey. The original CAHPS tool was developed by AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) and is used by health plans to understand their members’ perception of their quality of health care. The CAHPS team has expanded the number of survey tools within the suite of surveys developed by AHRQ. The CAHPS acronym has been changed to denote Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. The family of surveys now includes tools for different types of facility care (e.g., HCAHPS or Hospital CAHPS, NH CAHPS or Nursing Home CAHPS) and ambulatory care settings (e.g., HH-CAHPS or Home Health CAHPS).

The Clinician and Group CAHPS (CG-CAHPS) survey is a standardized tool to measures patient perceptions of care provided by a physician in an office setting.

AHRQ’s CAHPS resource page: https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/default.asp

Q: What is CG-CAHPS?
A: CG-CAHPS refers to Clinician and Group CAHPS, a tool designed to assess patient perceptions of care provided by physicians and medical groups. There are three separate tools designed for three distinct populations including Adult Primary Care, Adult Specialty Care and Child Primary Care.

AHRQ’s CAHPS resource page for CG-CAHPS: https://www.cahps.ahrq.gov/content/products/CG/PROD_CG_CG40Products.asp?p=1021&s=213

Q: Who Initiated the Development of CG-CAHPS?
A: Unlike HCAHPS (Hospital) and HH-CAHPS (Home Health) which were requested by CMS, no regulatory body initiated the development of CG-CAHPS.

Q: Who Developed CG-CAHPS?
A: The Clinician and Group CAHPS set of instruments was developed by AHRQ as an extension of the original CAHPS health plan survey based on the work of the CAHPS Consortium.

Q: What is the Status of the CG-CAHPS Instruments?
A: The CG-CAHPS Instruments have been in the public domain since April 2007.

Q: What is the Status of the CG-CAHPS Implementation?
A: Although there are currently no plans to link CG-CAHPS to reimbursement the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will host a webinar on September 25, 2008 to review recent developments and additional survey versions in development. Contact your Account Executive or Consultant after the event to receive a full summary of topics covered during the webinar.

Q: Will CG-CAHPS be Linked to Payment?
A: Although several past regional reporting projects have used different early versions of the CG-CAHPS tool prior to its being placed in the public domain, there is currently no national initiative linking CG-CAHPS to reimbursement.

Q: What Concept Areas are Included in CG-CAHPS?
A: Items within the CG-CAHPS survey instruments can be used to create measures of patient perceptions of care including: getting appointments and health care when needed, how well doctors communicate, courtesy and helpfulness of office staff, and overall rating of the doctor.