Data and Trends The Impact of a CAHPS Report on Employee Knowledge, Beliefs, and Decisions

As comparative health plan performance data become more available, large employers are increasingly interested in knowing about the value in providing this information to employees to help them choose a plan. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine some of the key assumptions about how disseminating Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAHPS) report cards may influence employee knowledge, attitudes, and choice. The study used a quasi-experimental design, with preintervention and post-intervention interviews with 958 employees. The findings indicate that exposure to the reports is related to having more information on how well the different plans perform on the CAHPS reporting categories. Furthermore, those who saw the report perceive the reporting categories to be more important in health plan choice than those who did not. Finally, the findings show that those who saw the report are more influenced by informa-tion sent by their employer than those who did not see the report. The Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (CAHPS) is a 5-year research effort funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The goal is to provide comparative information on health plan performance to help consumers make health plan choices. CAHPS provides a standardized Support for this study was provided by a cooperative agreement grant from the Agency fo