Feedback from our members is an important part of assessing our performance and serves as an indication of where improvement may be needed.

For the above reason, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conducts two surveys on an annual basis to collect information on beneficiaries' opinions on their health and the services provided by their primary care physician (PCP) and health plan. The surveys let CMS know if we are carrying out our responsibilities as a health plan.

One of the surveys is the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS). This survey addresses topics regarding your experiences with your PCP and health plan, such as the amount of time it takes to get needed care from your PCP or how you would rate CarePlus’ customer service. The CAHPS survey is administered between March and June.

The second survey administered by CMS is the Health Outcomes Survey (HOS). This survey evaluates CarePlus' capability to maintain or improve the physical and mental health of our members over time. The administration timeframe for HOS is between April and July.

Please note that not all CarePlus members are selected to participate in the surveys; CMS selects the participants at random. Both CAHPS and HOS are initially distributed by mail and conclude with telephone-assisted surveys for participants who do not respond.

Both CAHPS and HOS are tied into a Medicare 5-Star rating system, with five stars being the best score a plan can achieve and one being the worst. CarePlus has earned 5 out of 5 stars for performance year 2017. Although CMS takes into account many different criteria, CAHPS and HOS played a large role in our achievement, so we would like to share the below results as they reflect our efforts in helping our members lead healthier, happier and more productive lives.