Improve your patients’ experience with support from Cigna Healthcare

Patient feedback is at the core of any successful practice. To help capitalize on steps you’re already taking to improve patient satisfaction, Cigna Healthcare^sm offers providers valuable data regarding patient feedback and practice support through the post-visit survey and the Process Improvement Training program.

These resources provide direct feedback to your practice and also serve as a checkpoint to help identify opportunities to enhance your practice and improve your patients’ experience prior to the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS^®)^* survey and the Health Outcomes Survey (HOS).

HOS and CAHPS survey results make up 40 percent of annual Five-Star Quality Rating System (Star) ratings, with patient experience continuing to figure prominently in Star measures. Star ratings reflect the quality of care a health plan and their provider partners deliver. 

A good patient experience offers your practice:

• Better clinical outcomes.
• Patient retention.
• Opportunity for new referrals.

Post-visit survey

In January 2023, Cigna Healthcare partnered with Press Ganey, a leading healthcare survey company, to capture and share meaningful data throughout the year about your patients’ experiences. Data is shared with providers during periodic quality meetings with their Provider Performance Enablement team.

How it works

Post-visit surveys are triggered by claims from your practice for a patient’s routine or sick care visits. Patients identified from these claims will be randomly selected for post-visit survey participation, which they will receive via mail or email.

The post-visit survey covers topics such as:

• Getting needed care.
• Getting care quickly.
• Care coordination.
• Provider communication.
• Quality of patient care.

The post-visit survey can be a reliable indicator of your practice’s potential score on the CAHPS survey that follows, which can serve as a valuable preview of what your patients are saying about their care experience with your practice. CAHPS survey responses can ultimately impact your practice; therefore, it’s important to encourage your patients to complete the post-visit survey if they’re chosen to participate.

Just a year after implementation, the post-visit survey has already begun to move the needle in quality measures. At the end of quarter two of 2023, Cigna Healthcare–participating providers were scoring a 1.5 star overall on the survey. Currently in 2024, Cigna Healthcare–participating providers are scoring a 2.8 overall. The measures with the most improvement year over year include getting needed care, getting care quickly, care coordination, and rating of personal doctor.

Partnership for Quality program impact

The post-visit survey also supports the patient experience incentives included in the Partnership for Quality (P4Q) program. This is a voluntary program that rewards primary care providers for high-quality care, service, and outcomes and allows provider groups to earn quality incentives based on Star-related satisfaction measures.

Process Improvement Training program

The Process Improvement Training program was originally piloted in 2019 by CareAllies^®, a division of The Cigna Group, in Texas. In 2022, it evolved to become an enterprise-wide partnership between Cigna Healthcare and CareAllies, providing boots-on-the-ground support to help providers and their practices align resources to maximize practice enhancement opportunities.

How it works

The Cigna Healthcare Process Improvement Training team evaluates a participating provider’s practice based on the post-visit survey patient data. After the evaluation is complete, a customized plan is developed to address specific care gaps for practice enhancements. The team follows up with the participating practice throughout the year and provides real-time performance monitoring with the post-visit survey.

Cigna Healthcare provides free resources to help your practice close identified care gaps, including:

• “Call Us First” campaign kit ‒ offers patient scripts and process maps to help improve patient wait times.
• Nonemergency previsit and triage checklists (for frontline staff) ‒ includes scripting and messaging tactics for directing patients more efficiently.
• Patient education kit ‒ includes educational posters, flyers, brochures, and conversation starters around CAHPS and HOS topics.
• CAHPS practice kit ‒ offers best practices from reputable health care resources, including Press Ganey, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the American Medical Association, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
• Continuing medical education–accredited communications trainings ‒ including CAHPS Success Series, HOS Success Series, Mental Health Awareness Training, and Provider’s Guide to Patient-centered Communication which are available on the Cigna Healthcare Medicare Advantage Providers website (MedicareProviders.Cigna.com) > Provider Education > STARS/Quality Education.

For questions about the post-visit survey, Process Improvement Training program, or P4Q or to place an order for any of the above materials, contact your Provider Performance Enablement representative. Training materials and checklists can also be found at MedicareProviders.Cigna.com.

Practice improves patient experiences, health outcomes

CareAllies worked with a busy primary care practice in Texas to support their goal of reducing plan all-cause readmissions (PCR) by an average of 2.5 percent. The practice identified this goal in an effort to reduce patient mortality and improve health care affordability. The Process Improvement Training team adjusted several processes and, in less than a year, helped the practice lower its PCR rate by at least 10 percent — far exceeding the original goal. And, in the process, the practice was able to stabilize PCR results with less variation.

Remind your patients about incentives they can earn from Cigna Healthcare for healthy behaviors. Patients can learn more at myCigna.com or call customer service at 800.668.3813 or text telephone 711 to request a Passport to Health booklet.

* CAHPS^® is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).