The privacy of patients and the medical practice is of high concern with surveys.  The survey system used addresses these concerns.

 

Protections are provided in several ways.

 

• The survey is privately arranged through the medical practice using CAHPS basic standards and is not governed, mediated or monitored by the government,

• The medical practice sees only the survey results and not the individual patient forms, 

• There is no practice knowledge of what patients participated in the surveys, 

• Surveys are done using only federal mail with no electronic files other than those of MER doing the survey,

• Survey responses and files are held only by MER, 

• Survey results only are reported to the sponsoring medical practice and 

• Neither original survey forms nor information reported to the medical practice contain patient identifying information.

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