Data collection for the Victorian Health Experience Survey (VHES) program will become digital only in 2022-23, following a strong response to the digital collection methods introduced over the last 12 months.
The change will relate to the core survey program, with the adult and paediatric inpatient, emergency and specialist clinics, and the maternity surveys transitioning to an electronic only methodology, while also removing the second reminder currently sent to invited consumers.
Consumers will be invited to participate in the VHES program either via email or SMS, with an option to call the VHES helpdesk for support to complete over the phone.
The change comes after a review of response rates in 2021-22 identified that a poor response to postal survey invitations is having a significant impact on the programs engagement and overall response rate.
A breakdown of results by demographics also identified a strong response to email and SMS invitations across all age groups, including for older populations. Further analysis demonstrated the sample will remain largely representative when the postal invitation is removed.
The collection of mobile phone numbers and email addresses by health services has grown over the past 12 months, which has been pivotal to supporting the new digital collection methodology and the decision to discontinue paper-based surveys.
VAHI’s consumer experience team is working with survey provider Ipsos on putting the new methodology into action, including identifying any impact there may be on overall sample size and opportunities to increase sample volumes. Further information will be circulated to registered VHES portal users shortly.
To register for the portal visit https://results.vhes.com.au. To find out more about the VHES program, contact VAHI Consumer Experience Manager Lauren Jordan at [email protected]