Client: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Services: Data & Statistical Analysis; Project Management & IT Services; Qualitative Research

Key Work Areas: Data Scrubbing, Information Security Management, Focus Groups, Recruitment for Qualitative Research Studies, Survey Design and Data Collection, Survey Research

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and usability of an instrument that would augment the current semiannual Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) interview with a series of web-based monthly check-ins that are designed to improve reporting accuracy. The concept is designed to invite MEPS respondents to provide information more frequently but in shorter, self-administered sessions. Interviews will be conducted with subjects who represent the major groups of MEPS respondents (e.g., minorities, people with public health insurance coverage, families with young children, multi-generation families).

This project will explore:

• The feasibility of collecting MEPS data with a multimode protocol.
• Quality and usability issues in collecting data about medical events in various ways (such as harvested from claims data or patient portals and filling gaps with self-administered reports or interviewer-administered instruments).
• New modes of collecting data (with video-assisted interviews or live chat combined with web interviews).