The CAHPS® Databases Submission System


The CAHPS Databases Submission System provides forms, specifications, and other information to support participation in the CAHPS Databases. The CAHPS Databases are AHRQ’s repositories for data from selected CAHPS surveys of patient experience with care. The primary purpose of the CAHPS Databases is to facilitate comparisons of CAHPS survey results by survey users.

AHRQ currently maintains databases for four CAHPS surveys:

  • CAHPS Health Plan Survey
  • CAHPS Child Hospital Survey
  • CAHPS Home and Community-Based Services Survey
  • CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey

The survey results in the CAHPS Databases contribute to several products and services:

  • Annual Chartbooks that present summary-level results 1
  • The CAHPS Data Tools with aggregated results for composite measures, rating measures, and individual survey items, organized according to survey version and field period.
  • Private Feedback Reports provided to participating organizations to enable them to compare their own results to the overall Database averages.
  • Research datasets of de-identified data files that can help answer important health services research questions related to patient experience of care as measured by CAHPS surveys.

Learn more about the CAHPS Databases.


Benefits of Participating in the CAHPS Databases


Participation in the CAHPS Databases is free and open to survey users that administer surveys according to CAHPS specifications. Users of the Health Plan Survey, the Child Hospital Survey, and the Home and Community-Based Services Survey who voluntarily submit their data to the CAHPS Databases:

  • Receive a Private Feedback Report in Excel that displays their own CAHPS survey results in addition to the results from the pertinent Database.
  • Contribute to a research dataset that is used to answer important questions related to assessing and improving the patient experience.
  • Contribute to aggregated data reported in products such as the Chartbooks and the CAHPS Data Tools.

How To Submit Your Survey Data to a CAHPS Database

The Online Submission System for each survey opens once a year to collect data.
  CAHPS Survey   2023 Data Submission Dates
  Child Hospital   March 13 - April 14
  Health Plan   June 5–30
  Home and Community-Based Service (HCBS)   August 7-25

Note: AHRQ suspended data collection for the Clinician & Group Survey in 2021.

Organizations interested in submitting data to a CAHPS Database are asked to complete five easy steps:

  • Register for a new account or confirm an existing account.
  • Provide information about the organization.
  • Sign and return a Data Use Agreement (DUA) to the CAHPS Databases.
  • Submit a copy of the CAHPS questionnaire used for data collection.
  • Submit data according to required specifications.
1 Chartbooks are currently available for the Health Plan Survey and the Clinician & Group Survey only.
   Similar reports for the other two surveys are in development.