Consumer Perception of Care for Substance Abuse Treatment Services: Development of a Survey and Web-Based Application

Issues of accountability and appropriate consumer input for program design, operation, and improvement are of increasing importance to public and private payers as well as to managers of substance abuse treatment programs. Increasingly, there are statewide and national efforts that assess consumers' perception of their experiences receiving care. The Consumer Perception of Care survey, a Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)-supported initiative, measures consumers' perceptions of their experiences during substance abuse treatment in the areas of quality, perceived outcomes, social connectedness, and commitment to change. The Consumer Perception of Care survey was developed through a national consensus effort including consumers, providers, and experts in survey construction and testing who identified potential areas for measurement and existing measures as well as developing questions addressing these areas. Questions were subjected to scientific evaluation through a set of pilot tests, and pilot data were used to identify the most psychometrically sound questions from each area for inclusion in the final Consumer Perception of Care survey, which has 21 questions and 10 background items. More recently, a Web-based application of the Consumer Perception of Care survey has been developed and tested with substance abuse treatment providers. Functions of the website include user enrollment/management, data entry, data download, and reporting. The development of the Consumer Perception of Care survey and Web-based application are discussed as well as lessons learned and next steps. These efforts can serve as the foundation for ongoing attempts in substance abuse treatment to give a meaningful and actionable voice to consumers.