CAHPS Data Documentation
Here you will find details on items, variables, and composite variables on the Medicare CAHPS surveys, and differences across health plan survey type and survey years. Several variables were added to the CAHPS survey data file and are described in the Data Dictionary. The variable (INSEER) identifies CAHPS respondents who were found in the SEER file and were diagnosed with cancer between 1973 and 2013. Several variables were calculated to describe the timing of the survey relative to cancer diagnosis including the patient's cancer status at the time of the survey (CA_STAT). These variables can be used to select a subset of respondents or surveys based on pre/post-cancer diagnosis; for example, selecting number of cancers before survey equal to 0 (NUMCABEF = 0) will keep only surveys prior to any cancer diagnosis.
- Medicare CAHPS Data Dictionary:
- MS Excel format (XLSX, 70 KB)
- Portable Document Format:
- 1997 – 2005 (PDF, 218 KB)
- 2007 – 2015 (PDF, 225 KB)
- Changes in Medicare CAHPS Survey Items (PDF)
- SEER-CAHPS Details for Researchers:
- MS Excel format (XLSX, 200 KB)
- Portable Document Format:
- Intro (PDF, 339 KB)
- Global Rating (PDF, 102 KB)
- About You (PDF, 682 KB)
- Getting Care Quickly (PDF, 552 KB)
- Getting Needed Care (PDF, 364 KB)
- Doctor Communication (PDF, 356 KB)
- Customer Service (PDF, 474 KB)
- PDP Info (PDF, 330 KB)
- Get Needed Rx (PDF, 447 KB)
- Care Coordination (PDF, 301 KB)
- Related (get care quickly) (PDF, 217 KB)