Now Available: AHRQ Patient Survey Items on Health Literacy and Interpreter Services

Now Available: AHRQ Patient Survey Items on Health Literacy and Interpreter Services

Measure Patient Experiences with Health Literacy and Interpreter Services

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released CAHPS® supplemental items that ask about patients’ experiences with health literacy and interpreter services. Recent refinements of the Health Literacy and Interpreter Services items are intended to better meet users’ needs and align these items with current CAHPS standards and approaches. These items are available for the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey and the CAHPS Health Plan Survey.

The CAHPS Health Literacy Item Sets ask about providers' efforts to foster and improve the health literacy of patients. These items address the following topics:

• Communication with providers
• Communication about self-management of diseases and conditions
• Communication about medicines
• Communication about tests and test results

The Interpreter Services items ask about patients’ experiences with interpreter services in health care settings. All items are available in English and Spanish.

• Review Health Literacy Items for the Clinician & Group Survey.
• Review Health Literacy Items for the Health Plan Survey.
• Review Interpreter Services Items for the Clinician & Group Survey.
• Review Interpreter Services Items for the Health Plan Survey.

Supplemental items on Health Literacy and Interpreter Services for the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS) were previously released.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact the CAHPS Help Line at cahps1@westat.com or 1-800-492-9261.

You can access other AHRQ health literacy resources here.