The Pathway To Sustainability: Aligning Ambulatory Patient Experience Survey Implementation

Across the United States health care system, there is a growing imperative to deliver more patient-centered care. Listening to the voice of the patient is increasingly recognized as an essential part of this transformation. Health care is late to the game; soliciting and incorporating consumer feedback is commonplace in most other industries.

However, the use of patient surveys as a measure of the patient care experience is expanding rapidly in public reporting and value-based purchasing programs. The Clinician and Group Survey (CG-CAHPS) has become the national standard for assessing patient experience in ambulatory care practices. As its use becomes more widespread, practices are beginning to face multiple requirements to collect and report survey results using different versions of the survey.

These expanding requirements have led to increasing concerns regarding the cost and administrative burden to practices and clinicians, as well as growing response fatigue among patients and families. A consensus is now emerging that some kind of alignment or “harmonization” of patient experience measurement must take place in order to reduce survey burdens on both patients and practices alike.