Testing a Planned Missing Design to Reduce Respondent Burden in Web and SMS Administrations of the CAHPS Clinician and Group Survey (CG-CAHPS)

We test a planned missing design to reduce respondent burden in Web and SMS administrations of the CAHPS Clinician and Group Survey (CG-CAHPS), a survey of patient experiences widely used by health care providers. Members of an online nonprobability panel were randomly assigned to one of three invitation and data collection mode protocols: email invitation to a Web survey, SMS invitation to a Web survey, or SMS invitation to an SMS survey. Within these three mode protocols, respondents were randomly assigned to a planned missing design, which shortened the survey by about 40%, or to a control group that received the survey in its entirety. We compare survey duration, breakoff and completion rates, and five key patient experience measures across conditions to assess the effect of the planned missing design across the three modes. We found that a planned missing design worked well with our Web survey, reducing survey duration and breakoff without changing estimates relative to the full-survey control condition. However, mixed findings in the SMS survey suggest that even shortened, 15-item surveys may be too long to substantially reduce respondent burden. We conclude with recommendations for future research.