Situation
In February 2010, Massachusetts was awarded a five-year federally funded Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) Quality Demonstration grant. The grant supports the development and maintenance of an integrated approach to measurement and quality improvement of pediatric health care delivery that will lead to transformational gains in children’s health outcomes. CHIPRA requires states to assess parent satisfaction with their children’s health care using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Health Plan Survey.
Solution
In collaboration with the MassHealth Quality Office, UMass Medical School’s Office of Survey Research implemented a MassHealth statewide child survey to meet the objectives of the CHIPRA grant as well as the objectives of the Primary Care Clinician (PCC) Plan and the MassHealth Managed Care Organization (MCO) Program.
- A simple random sample of MassHealth members, ages 17 years or younger enrolled in the PCC Plan or one of the MCOs as of December 31, 2012, was drawn.
- The 63-question survey consisted of core items from the CAHPS 5.0H, supplemented by questions on specialized care.
- The survey was administered to the parents and guardians of 1,989 health plan members between April and July 2013 through a two-wave mail protocol with telephone follow-up for non-respondents.
- Written surveys were administered in English and Spanish, and both English and Spanish speaking interviewers were available for telephone respondents.
Results
Overall, the survey had an adjusted response rate of 50.2%, excluding ineligible cases. Survey information was used to meet the CHIPRA core measure requirement and assist MassHealth in identifying opportunities for improvement in the delivery of care.