CAHPS (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems)
CAHPS is a suite of standardized patient experience surveys developed by AHRQ used across CMS quality programs, including HCAHPS (hospital), CG-CAHPS (clinician/group), MA CAHPS (Medicare Advantage), and Home Health CAHPS.
What is CAHPS?
The CAHPS suite was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to provide standardized, validated instruments for measuring patient-reported experience — what actually happened during a care encounter, as distinct from subjective satisfaction. HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) is mandatory for IPPS-participating hospitals and consists of 21 patient-reported items covering provider communication, staff responsiveness, medication communication, hospital environment cleanliness and quietness, discharge information, and overall hospital rating. HCAHPS results are publicly reported on Care Compare and account for 25% of the CMS Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Total Performance Score. CG-CAHPS (Clinician and Group) is administered to ambulatory patients and measures access to care, provider communication, care coordination, and office staff interactions — used in MIPS Patient/Caregiver Experience category and ACO quality measurement. MA CAHPS drives Medicare Advantage Star Ratings, with two of the highest-weighted Star Rating measures being CAHPS-based: getting care quickly and customer service. The critical distinction between patient experience and patient satisfaction is conceptual: CAHPS measures what happened (did the nurse explain your medication?), not whether the patient was happy — a difference with implications for how results are interpreted and improved.
Why It Matters for Healthcare Analytics
HCAHPS directly affects CMS VBP payment adjustments for hospitals, while CG-CAHPS and MA CAHPS shape Star Ratings that drive Medicare Advantage enrollment decisions and benchmark payments. Identifying which CAHPS domains are below the 50th percentile — and which providers or units are driving composite score declines — enables targeted improvement rather than broad satisfaction initiatives.
How Vizier Tracks CAHPS Performance
Upload your HCAHPS or CG-CAHPS survey data, then ask "Which HCAHPS domains are below the national 50th percentile and what is the VBP score impact?" — Vizier calculates domain scores, projects VBP payment effects, and identifies provider-level or unit-level patterns driving below-average communication and responsiveness scores.