Health Care Surveys—What Do They Mean?
Posted on January 12, 2022
Every spring, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services mails two surveys to randomly selected Medicare beneficiaries. These surveys help drive improvements in the health care delivery system, and help us understand how we are doing and what is important to you.
The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey asks questions about your health care and services you receive. The Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) asks questions about your health status. Both of these surveys are focused on gathering information about you and the health care that you received in the last six (6) months.
Survey Tips
When completing a survey, be sure to think about your health and your personal experience with your health care. The following tips may help clarify some aspects of the surveys:
- If you changed your Medicare plan for 2022, answer the questions thinking about your experiences in the last 6 months of 2021.
- If you do not have prescription coverage with your Health New England plan (we offer plans with and without Rx coverage), then you would skip the “Your Prescription Drug Plan” section on the survey.
- Answer only the questions that apply to you by putting an “X” in the box to the left of your answer.
- Be sure to read all the answer choices before marking your answer.
- Some questions may not be applicable to you, and you might not need to answer them. In these instances, you will see an arrow with a note that tells you what question to answer next, for example “[If No, Go to Question 3].”
- If someone helps you with the survey, be sure to answer these questions: “Did someone help you complete this survey?” and “How did that person help you?”
Why Your Opinion Counts
Your experience with Health New England and your doctors is important to us. Based on your responses, we are better able to design services and outreach programs to assist you and your family. If you did get a survey, please take the time to complete it and mail it back. We thank you in advance.
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