30 CAHPS Survey Questions: Types, Samples & Best Practices

Clinician & Group CAHPS (CG-CAHPS) Survey Questions

Why & When to Use CG-CAHPS

CG-CAHPS is the go-to metric for measuring outpatient physician practice performance. Used in programs like MIPS and PCMH, it’s a foundational tool for group practices and health systems looking to level up outpatient experience. If you want to know how patients feel after office visits (or telehealth!), this survey is for you.

The optimal time to send a CG-CAHPS survey is within 1–2 weeks of a patient’s office or telehealth visit. This keeps details top-of-mind but doesn’t bombard busy patients. By focusing on provider communication, access, and overall satisfaction, the survey reveals the story behind every doctor visit questionnaire.

Advantages of using CG-CAHPS in your practice include:

• Demonstrating compliance for regulatory programs and accreditation
  
• Identifying which aspects of the visit patients treasure or find lacking
  
• Gaining insights into both in-person and virtual care workflows
  
• Building trust and loyalty by listening to the “voice of the patient”
  

The questions are fine-tuned to help clinics adapt and thrive in a world where outpatient experience surveys guide everything from quality bonuses to practice reputation.

5 Sample CG-CAHPS Questions

Try these CG-CAHPS sample questions in your own outpatient experience survey or doctor visit questionnaire:

1. How often did this provider explain things in a way that was easy to understand?

2. In the last 12 months, how often did you get an appointment for urgent care as soon as you needed?

3. Did the care team seem to know the important information about your medical history?

4. How often did this provider spend enough time with you?

5. On a scale of 0–10, how likely are you to recommend this provider’s office to friends or family?

With these questions, practices get actionable, bite-sized feedback that can help turn “meh” visits into “wow” experiences.

The CG-CAHPS survey effectively measures patient experiences across diverse backgrounds, with minimal measurement bias, indicating that observed differences likely reflect true disparities rather than survey design flaws. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Health Plan CAHPS Survey Questions

Why & When to Use Health Plan CAHPS

If you manage a health plan, the Health Plan CAHPS survey is your annual report card—used for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid managed care, and Exchange Qualified Health Plan star ratings. Regulators want to know how well your plan connects members to care, answers questions, and resolves hassles.

Health Plan CAHPS surveys should be distributed annually, specifically to those enrolled for at least six months. They provide a unique lens into every stage of the member’s journey, assessing member satisfaction with everything from call centers to coverage for needed prescriptions.

Key benefits of running a Health Plan CAHPS survey:

• Fulfill critical CMS and NCQA requirements
  
• Diagnose friction points in access, cost clarity, and drug coverage
  
• Support marketing claims for “most loved” or “easiest to use” health plans
  
• Score better in Medicare star ratings, boosting plan enrollment and retention
  

Member-centric questions unlock details about what keeps people happy, which services make them grumble, and what will make your plan irresistible.

5 Sample Health Plan Questions

Here are five Health Plan CAHPS sample questions to measure what matters for both compliance and quality improvement:

1. In the last 6 months, how often was it easy to get the care, tests, or treatment you needed through your health plan?

2. How often did your health plan’s customer service give you the help you needed?

3. Did your health plan give you enough information to make cost-aware decisions?

4. How often were prescription drugs you needed covered without delay?

5. Overall, how would you rate your health plan?

Smart use of these questions will help you climb the ranks in member satisfaction surveys—and ace those all-important star ratings.

Home Health CAHPS Survey Questions

Why & When to Use Home Health CAHPS

Home health is personal, and patients welcome care professionals right into their living rooms. The Home Health CAHPS survey is designed to capture exactly what it feels like to receive skilled nursing or therapy services at home. Tightly linked to Home Health Value-Based Purchasing, these surveys keep agencies honest and agile.

The best time to deploy this survey is after at least two in-home visits within a 60-day episode. This window ensures there’s enough experience to evaluate—no one-off impressions here! In-home care surveys like this one shine a spotlight on safety, communication, punctuality, and the all-important sense of comfort.

Home health agencies win big by leveraging CAHPS surveys to:

• Benchmark performance for state and national comparisons
  
• Uncover hidden gems or red flags in patient-provider interactions
  
• Enhance trust, which is critical for care delivered in private residences
  
• Stay in step with quality reporting requirements for Medicare
  

There’s no better way to understand what “good care” really means in the places where patients feel most vulnerable—at home.

5 Sample Questions

Bring your home health patient feedback process to life with these tailored survey questions:

1. How often did home health staff arrive on time?

2. Did staff explain all services and treatments before they were provided?

3. How often did home health staff listen carefully to you?

4. Did you feel safe and comfortable with the care provided in your home?

5. Would you recommend this home health agency to family and friends?

By asking directly, you get a candid snapshot of real-world experiences—and a roadmap to happy, healthy homes.

A study analyzing Home Health Care CAHPS® Survey data from over 7,000 patients identified that being treated with courtesy and respect, along with providers being informed and up-to-date about care, were the most impactful factors influencing overall care ratings. (pxjournal.org)

Outpatient & Ambulatory Surgery (OAS CAHPS) Survey Questions

Why & When to Use OAS CAHPS

Same-day surgery has become a fixture in modern healthcare, blending high-tech procedures with swift recoveries. The OAS CAHPS survey lets you peek behind the curtain of every ambulatory surgery satisfaction story, especially as CMS ramps up its payment linkage.

Timing is everything: distribute your OAS CAHPS between 24 hours and 3 weeks post-procedure. That way, folks have left the parking lot but can still recall those funny pre-op socks and the friendliness of OR nurses. This gives you a clear, honest same-day surgery survey for optimal improvement.

OAS CAHPS is valuable because it:

• Spotlights pain control and communication in surgical settings
  
• Captures quick-turnaround impressions about facility cleanliness
  
• Helps centers stay competitive on review sites and regulatory dashboards
  
• Identifies both operational snags and superstar team members
  

If you want your outpatient surgery center to dazzle patients and inspectors alike, these surveys are non-negotiable.

5 Sample Questions

Build a winning facility reputation with these must-ask OAS CAHPS survey questions:

1. Before your procedure, did staff clearly explain what would happen?

2. How well did the care team control your pain after surgery?

3. Were post-operative instructions easy to understand?

4. How clean was the facility’s waiting and recovery area?

5. Overall, how satisfied were you with the outpatient surgery center?

These questions cut straight to the heart of the outpatient experience, spotlighting what matters most to patients on the move.

Hospice CAHPS Survey Questions

Why & When to Use Hospice CAHPS

End-of-life care deserves a special approach—Hospice CAHPS surveys are designed to honor patients and families by asking what really helped in the last chapter. Rather than questioning patients directly, these surveys are mailed or conducted by phone 2 to 5 months after a patient’s death, inviting caregivers to reflect.

CMS relies on the caregiver hospice survey for quality reporting and star ratings. This instrument offers deep insight into how hospice teams deliver comfort, dignity, and kindness when it’s needed most.

Key reasons to implement Hospice CAHPS include:

• Measure what matters to families—timeliness, respect, and communication
  
• Informing improvement for end-of-life experience feedback
  
• Meeting regulatory requirements and public reporting mandates
  
• Illuminating strengths and missed opportunities in bereavement support
  

These are not just checkboxes—they’re touchpoints with lasting significance for grieving loved ones.

5 Sample Questions

Elevate your end-of-life experience feedback with these essential Hospice CAHPS survey items:

1. How often did hospice team treat the patient with dignity and respect?

2. Did the hospice keep you informed about the patient’s condition in a timely manner?

3. How well did the hospice team provide emotional support to you as a caregiver?

4. Was the patient’s pain managed to their satisfaction?

5. Would you recommend this hospice program to others?

These questions help providers ensure the right touch—a blend of medical skill and deep humanity.

Best Practices (Dos and Don’ts) for Crafting & Deploying CAHPS Surveys

Want your patient experience survey to really sing? Here’s how to make every CAHPS deployment count. Follow these tips to boost accuracy, compliance, and response rates—without tripping up on the fine print.

Dos for survey success:

• Rely on CMS-approved wording for every core item
  
• Keep survey mode and outreach consistent across populations
  
• Segment results by demographics to catch trends and address health equity
  
• Always close the loop: reach out quickly if feedback signals a need for service recovery
  

Don’ts for smoother execution:

• Never modify or paraphrase core CAHPS survey questions
  
• Avoid over-surveying the same patient within a 90-day time frame
  
• Don’t collect protected health information (PHI) that isn’t crucial to the survey
  

Want more responses? Try these out:

• Use multimodal outreach: mail, phone, email, or text
  
• Send a pre-notification letter so recipients aren’t surprised
  
• Consider incentives, just make sure they’re permitted by CMS rules
  

Finally, be sure to wrap valuable info into your surveys—like infographics for instructions or internal links to your resource hub—so patients feel confident and cared for from start to finish.

Conclusion & Implementation Checklist

CAHPS surveys are more than regulatory hurdles; they're the pulse of patient-centered healthcare. When you match the survey type to each care setting, you unlock insights that drive loyalty and star ratings alike. For a seamless launch, just follow this checklist:

• Obtain vendor certification
  
• Set up your sampling frame
  
• Schedule survey fielding
  
• Analyze CAHPS composite results
  
• Act on insights for measurable improvement
  

Download our CAHPS question bank or request a consultation to get started—and don’t forget to share this guide on social media. Amplify your patient experience savvy and help others raise the bar!