• What is CAHPS®?
• What is CG-CAHPS?
• Who initiated the development of CG-CAHPS?
• Who developed CG-CAHPS?
• What is the status of the CG-CAHPS' instruments?
• What is the status of the CG-CAHPS implementation?
• Will CG-CAHPS be linked to payment?
• If CG-CAHPS is not yet required, why should we start measuring now?
• What concept areas are included in CG-CAHPS?
• Does Press Ganey have CG-CAHPS experience?
• What is Press Ganey's position 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’ perceptions 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 measure patient perceptions of care provided by a physician in an office setting.  Visit AHRQ's CAHPS resource page.


Q: What is CG-CAHPS?
A: The CAHPS Clinician and Group (CG-CAHPS) survey is a standardized tool to measure patients' perceptions of care provided by physicians in an office setting. Visit AHRQ's CAHPS resource page for CG-CAHPS.


Q: Who initiated the development of CG-CAHPS?
A: Unlike HCAHPS (Hospital) and HH-CAHPS (Home Health) which were requested by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (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: There are state and regional initiatives that use variations of the publicly available CG-CAHPS instrument. There are currently no plans underway for national implementation, but CMS has already implemented the CAHPS program in hospitals and home health agencies as part of its strategy to drive quality reporting.


Q: Will CG-CAHPS be linked to payment?
A: The Healthcare Reform Legislation before Congress would create a “Physician Compare” web site, to be developed by Jan. 1, 2013. Physician Compare would include clinical measures already collected through the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). The legislation also requires patient ratings be considered for inclusion on the web site shortly after the initial launch. The bill includes a Quality Reporting provision that would tie non-participation to loss of reimbursement. We anticipate that a CG-CAHPS instrument will eventually become a required measurement for full reimbursement.


Q: If CG-CAHPS is not yet required, why should we start measuring now?
A: Listening to your patients can pay off in unexpected ways, helping you to prioritize service initiatives, recognize outstanding staff members and increase referrals. With the growth of pay-for-performance programs and tougher competition, now is the time to make sure that your organization is focused on the importance of patient satisfaction. When the HCAHPS survey was implemented by CMS, those hospitals that adopted our integrated survey in advance outperformed those that waited for mandated participation. Ask us for more information about how paying attention to the voice of your patients can improve your service performance and your bottom-line results.


Q: What concept areas are included in CG-CAHPS?
A: Items within the CG-CAHPS survey instruments can be used to create measures of patients' 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.


Q: Does Press Ganey have CG-CAHPS experience?
A: We have been implementing patient satisfaction surveys and helping to improve the quality of health care for over 20 years and are working with over 550 medical practices today. Press Ganey was involved throughout the development of the original HCAHPS tool for hospitals and today conducts the HCAHPS survey for nearly half of all participating hospitals. We will leverage this experience to ensure a seamless transition for our medical practice clients.


Q: What is Press Ganey's position on CG-CAHPS?
A: To support those medical practices that wish to prepare in advance for potential requirement of this survey by CMS, Press Ganey is introducing an integrated survey tool that combines the core CG-CAHPS questions with standard Press Ganey patient satisfaction questions. This product will be available for our customers in Q2 2010.