Attachment E: AHRQ Endorsement Letter

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857
www.ahrq.gov

March 21, 2016

Dear Primary Care Practice Leader:
RAND is inviting 150 selected primary care practices across the nation to participate in a study of the
use of the CAHPS® PCMH items as part of their PCMH transformation. The Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) has funded this initiative as part of our ongoing efforts to evaluate the
effectiveness of CAHP®S instruments, including the use of the Primary Care Medical Home
CAHPS® items in transforming primary care.
The PCMH Items Demonstration Study seeks to understand practices’ choices of specific items on
their patient experience survey tools (e.g., core, PCMH, other supplemental, and custom items);
understand how practices use the PCMH item set during PCMS transformation; and examine the
effects of changes made during PCMH transformation on patient experiences as reported on CAHPS®
PCMH surveys. By participating in this study, your organization will have an opportunity to review
your PCMH CAHPS results relative to the other practices participating in the study.
RAND will call you within 2-3 days to discuss participation in this important project and to answer your
questions. If you accept this invitation to participate in the study, a staff member from RAND will
contact you to discuss additional details of the project, including data transmission requirements and
coordination with the CAHPS® Survey. If you would like to know more about the study before you are
contacted, please call 1-800-447-2631, ext. 7549 and leave a message for Dr. Denise D. Quigley, the
study’s Principal Investigator.
At the end of the PCMH items Demonstration Study, RAND will provide you with a report
summarizing your organization’s survey results in comparison to the average results for all
participating primary care practices. Participating practices will not be individually identified in the
reports you receive, or the reports provided to other practices.
Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,

Caren A. Ginsberg, Ph.D.
Director, CAHPS Program
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality