AHRQ Seeks Applications for Second Phase of CAHPS®

Media Advisory: August 30, 2001

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) today announced that it is seeking applications from non-profit and for-profit organizations, universities, clinics, and federal, state, and local government agencies for cooperative agreements to expand the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans (CAHPS®).

CAHPS® is a set of survey and reporting tools, developed by AHRQ, designed to measure consumers' experience with health plans and report that experience back to other consumers and purchasers to help them choose among health plans. CAHPS® currently is used by more than 20 states, 10 employer groups, and a wide range of health plans and companies including the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to help the 9 million federal employees choose a health plan, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (formerly HCFA) to survey 130,000 Medicare enrollees in managed care plans.

This RFA, known as CAHPS®II, seeks to maintain and build upon earlier versions of CAHPS® to create surveys for use in nursing homes, group practices, and by persons with mobility impairment, as well as to develop additional products, including innovative formats for reporting CAHPS® data. In addition, the RFA will support assessments of the usefulness of CAHPS® data for quality improvement purposes and evaluations of the effectiveness of CAHPS® in applied settings.

The total project period for submitted applications may not exceed 5 years. AHRQ expects to award up to $1.5 million under the RFA to each of three grantees for a total award amount of $4.5 million. The anticipated award date is early Spring 2002. Letters of intent for CAHPS® are due by September 24, 2001; applications must be received by November 14, 2001.

CAHPS® II (RFA HS-02-001), was published August 28, 2001, in the NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts and is available online at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HS-02-001.html.

For more information, please contact AHRQ Public Affairs, (301) 427-1364: Karen Carp, (301) 427-1858 (KCarp@ahrq.gov).

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Internet Citation:

AHRQ Seeks Applications for Second Phase of CAHPS®. Media Advisory, August 30, 2001. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2001/cahps2pr.htm

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