Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Survey

The ECHO is a survey that includes 5 multiple item measures and 12 single item measures:

Multiple Item Measures:

Getting treatment quickly
-Get treatment as soon as wanted when it was needed right away
-Get appointments as soon as wanted
-Get professional help by telephone
How well clinicians communicate
-Clinicians listen carefully
-Clinicians explain things in an understandable way
-Clinicians show respect
-Clinicians spend enough time
-Feel safe with clinicians
-Patient involved as much as wanted in treatment
Perceived improvement
-Compare ability to deal with daily problems to 1 year ago
-Compare ability to deal with social situations to 1 year ago
-Compare ability to accomplish things to 1 year ago
-Compare ability to deal with symptoms or problems to 1 year ago
Getting treatment and information from the plan
-Getting new clinician
-Delays in treatment while wait for plan approval
-Getting necessary treatment
-Understanding information about treatment in booklets or on the web
-Getting help when calling customer service
-Filling out paperwork
Informed about treatment options
-Told about self-help or consumer run programs
-Told about different treatments that are available for condition

Single Item Measures:

-Overall rating of counseling and treatment (MCO and MBHO)
-Overall rating of the health plan (MCO only)
-Wait more than 15 minutes past appointment time to see clinician
-Told about medication side effects
-Talk about including family & friends in treatment
-Given as much information as wanted about how to manage condition
-Given information about rights as a patient
-Patient feels that he or she could refuse a specific type of treatment
-Was information revealed that should have been kept private
-Cultural competence -Care responsive to language, race, religious, ethnic
-Amount helped by treatment
-Plan provides information about how to get treatment after benefits used up

The measures are based on reports of care experiences over the previous six months from adult (18 years of age or older) patients receiving behavioral health care (mental health and substance abuse treatment) and the organization that provides or manages their treatment and health outcomes.

Each measure score is the mean of the responses to the survey questions from patients receiving care at a particular health plan or managed behavioral health organization

More detail can be found at: http://www.ahrq.gov/cahps/surveys-guidance/echo/about/survey-measures.html