To correctly determine member experience and give value-based care a push, the Medical Advantage Star ratings survey must include relevant components and provide an e-survey option, a research conducted by NORC at Univesity of Chicago has concluded.
- The research pointed out that the response rate of Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug (MA-PD) Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) was an all-time low in 2019 at 38.4 percent. The response rate, which was 61.7 percent in 2010, has been on the decline for years now.
- The research included responses from 800 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and interviews of 41 experts, who represented various associates. It was conducted with an am to find shortcomings of the MA-PD CAHPS survey and find areas of improvement. This data was released by Better Medicare Alliance’s Center for Innovation in Medicare Advantage (CIMA).
- MA beneficiaries have revealed that the MA-PD CAHPS survey should update to include prevailing components required for choosing the right health plan. The most relevant aspects of current healthcare including telehealth and social determinants of health are not part of the survey.
- The respondents also believe that survey vendors should consider how individuals from diverse backgrounds perceive their healthcare.
- Seventy-six percent of beneficiaries opined that they would like the survey to go online through web or email instead of mail-only method, possibly pointing at the reason for the decline in the response in recent years. The research also points at the need of collecting actionable data, which should include information on the level of specific providers or respondent demographics and geographies.
- “As this research from NORC at the University of Chicago shows, there is work to be done to make the MA-PD CAHPS survey more meaningful, actionable, and accurate,” said Allyson Y. Schwartz, president and CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance.
- “Response rates have fallen by more than 37 percent in the last decade as beneficiaries cannot access the survey online and are bogged down by the length and number of extraneous questions that are outside their Medicare Advantage plan’s control. With so much resting on this assessment tool, we owe it to beneficiaries to get it right,” continued Schwartz.
- In the coming two years, CMS is set to increase the weighting of member experience measures in the Star Ratings System to promote value-based care.