Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems V (CAHPS V) (U18) | RFA HS 17 010

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HS 17 010

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems V (CAHPS V) (U18), Funding Opportunity Number RFA-HS-17-010, is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) under CFDA 93.226. The grant continues AHRQ's long-running CAHPS program, which began in 1995 and has spent more than two decades building the evidence and tools needed to measure and understand patients' experiences with health care. At its core, this opportunity is about strengthening how patient experience is captured and used, especially through the ongoing development and improvement of CAHPS surveys and supporting materials that help consumers evaluate health plans, providers, and care delivered in facility settings.

A central reason this program matters is its wide real-world adoption. CAHPS surveys are already used broadly by major health care stakeholders, including government agencies and large national organizations such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Those groups rely on CAHPS results for practical, high-stakes purposes like value-based purchasing, public reporting of quality, and accreditation. In other words, this RFA is not just funding academic measurement work in isolation; it is supporting an infrastructure that directly influences how health care organizations are compared, how performance is communicated to the public, and how incentives are designed.

The RFA calls for research and program work organized around five broad areas. First, it seeks projects that advance the science of consumer assessment of patient experience, meaning stronger methods for measuring what patients experience and how those experiences relate to quality. Second, it emphasizes continued innovation so the surveys stay relevant as health care delivery changes and as survey methodology evolves, including alignment with best practices in survey design, administration, and interpretation. Third, it supports efforts focused on reporting patient experience data, which can include how results are displayed, explained, and made meaningful to different audiences such as patients, purchasers, policymakers, and providers. Fourth, it explicitly calls for quality improvement (QI) studies, highlighting that the goal is not only to measure experience but also to test and learn what actually improves it in real care settings. Fifth, it requests development of internal and external communication strategies for the CAHPS program, recognizing that adoption, correct use, and ongoing engagement depend on clear guidance, outreach, and coordination across the CAHPS community.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of U.S.-based organizations and governments. Eligible applicants listed include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those categories); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The RFA also highlights additional eligible categories such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal agencies, regional organizations, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign entities are generally not eligible to apply directly. The announcement specifies that non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and foreign institutions cannot apply, and non-domestic components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible to apply as applicants. However, foreign components may participate as part of a consortium or as subcontractors, consistent with the HHS Grants Policy Statement definition of foreign components. This structure keeps the award anchored in U.S. institutions while still allowing projects to draw on international expertise when it is needed and appropriately justified.

As a cooperative agreement (U18), the award mechanism signals that AHRQ expects substantial involvement in the work beyond typical grant oversight, often meaning closer collaboration, coordinated planning, and shared decision-making between the awardees and the agency to ensure the CAHPS program goals are met. The opportunity anticipated up to two awards, with an original closing date of May 26, 2017, and a creation date of March 24, 2017. Overall, the CAHPS V (U18) opportunity is designed to keep a nationally important patient experience measurement program current, scientifically strong, and usable in the policy, purchasing, accreditation, and quality improvement systems that shape U.S. health care.

• The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems V (CAHPS V) (U18)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.226.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-03-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-05-26. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for RFA HS 17 010

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