31 HOS Survey Questions: Guide to Crafting & Optimizing Items

Physical Functioning Questions

Overview

Physical functioning questions are the muscle and movement detectives in any Medicare HOS set. They dig deep into what members can do, day in and day out. These questions reveal the reality of mobility, Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), and instrumental ADLs like shopping or housekeeping.

They uncover those subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) limitations that drive fall risk, inform rehabilitation plans, and determine eligibility for home care or additional services. Don’t skip these: they’re often the difference between a generic survey and actionable data.

Why & When to Use

Turn to physical function survey questions when you need to:

• Determine if a member might need a walker, cane, or home modifications.
• Uncover early signs of new or worsening disability.
• Fulfill CMS and HEDIS requirements for members with chronic conditions.
• Guide care managers in prioritizing patient interventions, or for required reporting in disease management programs.

They’re especially valuable after hospital discharge or in annual care plan updates—whenever function could have shifted.

5 Sample Physical Functioning Survey Questions

1. Does your health limit you in vigorous activities such as running or lifting heavy objects?
2. Are you able to climb one flight of stairs without resting?
3. How difficult is it for you to bathe or dress yourself?
4. In the past 12 months, have you needed assistance with grocery shopping?
5. Do you use assistive devices (cane, walker, wheelchair) to move around your home?

Members struggling with these tasks are quietly waving a red flag. Physical function questions help you spot those signals fast—so you can intervene before a major decline. If you’re building a mobility assessment survey, these items are always front-row.

In a study of Medicare Fee-for-Service recipients, 27% reported limitations in walking, highlighting significant mobility challenges among older adults. (bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com)

Mental Health & Emotional Well-being Questions

Overview

Mental health and emotional well-being questions are the heart and soul of a comprehensive health outcomes survey. They pull back the curtain on mood, stress, anxiety, and social connection. With depression and social isolation strongly linked to readmissions and medication non-adherence, mental health is not optional—it’s required territory for HOS.

Plans need to report these findings, especially for Star Measure performance, including Depression Screening and Follow-up indicators. Emotional health data is gold for care navigation.

Why & When to Use

Reach for these questions:

• To benchmark member well-being and screen for high-risk mental health issues.
• When CMS reporting requires you to demonstrate depression evaluation and follow-up.
• If you're developing effective interventions for medication adherence, case management, or support groups.
• To catch early warning signs—long before a crisis call.

Emotional health data can light up dark corners of a member’s life that standard medical charts never see.

5 Sample HOS Mental Health Question Examples

1. Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you felt little interest or pleasure in doing things?
2. How often have you felt nervous, anxious, or on edge?
3. Do you have someone you can count on for emotional support?
4. How frequently do feelings of sadness interfere with your daily life?
5. Have you talked with a healthcare professional about mental health in the past year?

When you find patterns of isolation or increasing sadness, get ready to act. These HOS mental health question examples are essential. They connect data to genuine member need—and prevent invisible suffering.

Chronic Conditions & Symptom Management Questions

Overview

Chronic-condition survey questions go for the details. They focus on the day-to-day management of things like hypertension, diabetes, COPD, and ongoing pain or symptoms. Medicare HOS requirements make these questions central for detecting care gaps and identifying opportunities for patient support.

Chronic illness management isn’t one-size-fits-all, and neither are these vital questions. You want to know if members are actually managing—and if not, where things might be going sideways.

Why & When to Use

Use these questions when you need to:

• Pinpoint poorly controlled conditions or missed self-care steps (think blood pressure, glucose, or medication routines).
• Align with HEDIS-mandated disease management metrics.
• Discover which members need a referral to a care manager, pharmacist, or home health provider.
• Track how well population-health interventions are delivering on outcomes.

By using chronic-condition survey questions in your HOS, you ensure your care plans actually reflect lived experiences—not just chart notations.

5 Sample Chronic-Condition Survey Questions

1. Do you monitor your blood pressure at home at least once a week?
2. How confident are you in managing your blood sugar levels?
3. During the past 6 months, how many COPD exacerbations have you experienced?
4. How would you rate your average pain level in the last month?
5. Have you received a flu shot within the past year?

Consistent use of these questions lets you see—at a glance—where there are gaps. Use responses to adjust disease management programs and drive whole-population improvement. Chronic-condition survey data brings clarity to an often messy care landscape.

Chronic conditions are prevalent among Medicare beneficiaries, with over 75% reporting at least one, highlighting the importance of tailored management strategies. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Health Behavior & Lifestyle Questions

Overview

Health behavior and lifestyle questions are the secret sauce in predicting health risks—and improving outcomes. These questions cover daily habits: physical activity, nutrition, tobacco and alcohol use, and sleep. Lifestyle behaviors drive 40% of health outcomes, but are usually invisible unless you ask.

Personalized coaching, preventative programs, and tailored interventions all start with these insights. Think of them as the foundation for member engagement that actually works.

Why & When to Use

Reach for these questions when:

• Designing health coaching, wellness incentives, or behavioral interventions.
• Addressing modifiable risk factors for chronic disease or hospital readmission.
• You need to tailor outreach based on actual, not assumed, behaviors.
• Reporting into HEDIS or population health dashboards.

Lifestyle questions for health outcomes surveys help you connect the dots between daily choices and long-term results.

5 Sample Lifestyle Survey Questions

1. On average, how many days per week do you engage in at least 30 minutes of physical activity?
2. How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat daily?
3. Do you currently smoke cigarettes or use vaping products?
4. How many alcoholic drinks do you consume in a typical week?
5. How would you describe your average nightly sleep duration?

Members might hide unhealthy habits—but structured, nonjudgmental survey questions catch what clinic visits often miss. With this data, you can spark targeted coaching calls and bring real-world change. Lifestyle responses drive the engine of prevention.

Patient Experience & Access to Care Questions

Overview

Access and experience questions add texture to your health outcome data. They reveal if your members can actually get the care, medications, or specialist help they need. Beyond clinical outcomes, patient access survey questions are key for Star Ratings and for redesigning delivery based on what members really face.

These items often surface hidden gaps in your network, scheduling snafus, or communication problems that could quietly tank satisfaction scores.

Why & When to Use

Deploy these questions when you want to:

• Complement CAHPS and double-check that reported “improvements” match what members actually feel.
• Identify where care coordination or access issues are lurking.
• Collect actionable data for quick-win improvements (think online scheduling or telehealth troubleshooting).
• Inform your Star Ratings strategy by nailing the access and experience domains.

Member feedback on these questions is rocket fuel for quality improvement programs—and for a much shinier CMS report card.

5 Sample Patient Access Survey Questions

1. How easy is it to schedule an appointment with your primary care provider?
2. After your last visit, did you understand the instructions about follow-up care?
3. How satisfied are you with the communication between your medical specialists?
4. Have you delayed filling a prescription due to cost in the past 12 months?
5. How comfortable are you using telehealth services for routine consultations?

Use their answers to trace bottlenecks and smooth out the wrinkles in your care delivery pipeline. Access questions turn patient irritation into improvement blueprints. Never let a “hard to schedule” complaint go unchecked.

Dos and Don’ts for Crafting High-Impact HOS Survey Questions

Dos

Writing high-impact HOS survey questions takes as much art as science. To get honest, actionable answers, keep these best practices up your sleeve:

• Write in clear, everyday language—aim at a sixth-grade reading level or lower.
• Specify recall periods (“During the past 2 weeks…”) to avoid memory fog.
• Pilot-test survey questions with a small group before rolling out to the masses.
• Randomize question order for similar items to minimize response bias.
• Use branching logic with care—don’t accidentally skip the good stuff.

These practices boost both your data quality and your response rates.

Don’ts

Steer clear of these common traps:

• Don’t write double-barreled questions (e.g., “How well do you eat and exercise?”).
• Avoid fuzzy timeframes like “lately” or “recently.”
• Scrap medical jargon—members tune out at “polypharmacy” and “glycemic control.”
• Don’t lead respondents with obvious “right” answers.
• Keep your survey under 25 minutes to prevent fatigue and incomplete responses.

Short, clear, and focused questions always outperform clever, convoluted ones.

UX Best Practices

The user experience is where completed surveys are won or lost:

• Always design for mobile devices first; that’s how most members will complete the survey.
• Include a visible progress bar—everyone wants to know how close they are to done.
• Use mixed modes: let people choose between mail, phone, and online to maximize reach.

Small touches—like skipping questions that don’t apply—or letting members easily save and return, can skyrocket your completion rates. A great survey experience equals better data.

Turning HOS Data Into Action: Analysis & Next Steps

Interpreting Scores

Now, let’s turn numbers into insight! Interpreting HOS scores involves more than tallying boxes. Use both Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores to compare your group to national benchmarks. Adjust for case mix to ensure fairness—what looks “bad” at first glance could simply reflect a sicker population.

Benchmarking and Improvements

Set your sights on the HOS national norm; see how your plan ranks against peers. Spot outliers—good or bad—and use that data to craft your next care interventions. Poor pain scores? Time to ramp up outreach. Low access marks? Rethink your scheduling system. Real improvement begins here.

Interventions and Feedback Loops

Use your survey findings to:

• Trigger targeted care management calls.
• Refer members to social support or community resources if social needs pop up.
• Share trends with clinician partners—so improvement plans are truly member-centered.

And don’t forget the feedback loop—tell your members (and your clinicians!) what changed because of their input. Closing the loop builds trust and keeps those response rates high.

Call to Action

Ready to level up? Download a free HOS question library and analytics template to supercharge your next survey cycle. Make your data work for you—and improve Medicare Star Ratings while you’re at it.

The right HOS questions transform surveys from paperwork into powerful engines of change. Keep your questions sharp, your data actionable, and your feedback loop humming. Onward to better outcomes—one member answer at a time!