title: Unveiling SEER-CAHPS®: a new data resource for quality of care research.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Since 1990, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have collaborated to create linked data resources to improve our understanding of patterns of care, health care costs, and trends in utilization. However, existing data linkages have not included measures of patient experiences with care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe a new resource for quality of care research based on a linkage between the Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) patient surveys and the NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) data.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is an observational study of CAHPS respondents and includes both fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries with and without cancer. The data linkage includes: CAHPS survey data collected between 1998 and 2010 to assess patient reports on multiple aspects of their care, such as access to needed and timely care, doctor communication, as well as patients' global ratings of their personal doctor, specialists, overall health care, and their health plan; SEER registry data (1973-2007) on cancer site, stage, treatment, death information, and patient demographics; and longitudinal Medicare claims data (2002-2011) for fee-for-service beneficiaries on utilization and costs of care.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 150,750 respondents were in the cancer cohort and 571,318 were in the non-cancer cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data linkage includes SEER data on cancer site, stage, treatment, death information, and patient demographics, in addition to longitudinal data from Medicare claims and information on patient experiences from CAHPS surveys.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sizable proportions of cases from common cancers (e.g., breast, colorectal, prostate) and short-term survival cancers (e.g., pancreas) by time since diagnosis enable comparisons across the cancer care trajectory by MA vs. FFS coverage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SEER-CAHPS is a valuable resource for information about Medicare beneficiaries' experiences of care across different diagnoses and treatment modalities, and enables comparisons by type of insurance.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, Cancer Prevention Fellow, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, 3E450, Rockville, MD, 20892, USA, neetu.chawla@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Neetu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chawla
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Urato
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ambs
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schussler
authors.forename: Ron D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: Steven B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Clauser
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.forename: Kayo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Margot
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gaillot
authors.forename: Elizabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Neeraj K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Arora
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D054547:National Cancer Institute (U.S.) / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D018426:SEER Program / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States