The CAHPS 1.0 survey instrument appears to have excellent psychometric properties.

This article assesses the presumption that consumer choice in health care is based on a rational weighing of alternatives--that information consumers about plan or provider performance, when coupled with information on cost plus service scope and limitation, will lead consumers to select high-quality, low-priced plans or providers. The authors review research on what health care consumers know, what they want to know, and what others think they should know. They also consider how people use information in making decisions and what this implies for what consumers really need to know to make effective decisions. The article concludes that assuming a rational consumer does not account for choice among options in the increasingly complex health care context facing consumers today. Based on this review, the article identifies gaps in the knowledge and sketches out a prospective research agenda in the area of consumer health care decision making.

Most plan report cards that compare the performance of health plans have framed the decision about plan choice as an opportunity to get better-quality care. This study uses a controlled experimental design to examine the effect of reframing the health plan choice decision to one that emphasizes protecting oneself from possible risk. The findings show that framing the health plan decision using a risk message has a consistent and significant positive impact on how consumers comprehend, value, and weight comparative performance information.