Anybody Home? In-Person Recruitment in a Multimode Design on the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS)
Submission ID: 5592

Date: Thursday, 10:15 AM to 11:45 AM 
Session: Session D: T10:15 - 11:45 AM

Primary Presenter

Rachel Carnahan, NORC at the University Of Chicago

Additional Authors or Round Table Presenters

Alanah Raykovich, NORC at the University of Chicago ,

Holly Hagerty, NORC at the University of Chicago ,

Jennifer Vanicek, NORC at the University of Chicago ,

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Abstract

The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) serves as the leading source of information on the Medicare program and its impact on beneficiaries. For nearly 30 years, the MCBS interview has been conducted in-person via computer-assisted personal interviewing. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, data collection for the MCBS rapidly shifted from in-person to phone interviewing in March 2020. This led to a revised design incorporating both phone and in-person outreach and shifting to a multimode data collection design.

As a continuous, longitudinal survey of a nationally representative sample of the Medicare population, a new panel of beneficiaries is selected to join the survey every fall.  In Fall 2021, the MCBS began to gradually reintroduce in-person data collection activities, starting with in-person recruitment for the purpose of non-response follow-up. This return to field activities presented an opportunity to analyze the outcomes of in-person outreach as a companion for phone recruitment. This work can inform future decisions about how and when to focus resources on in-person versus phone outreach, particularly for the recruitment of new panel members. This presentation will describe the protocol used and discuss the outcomes associated with in-person outreach. The analysis will consider differences in final case status or contacting patterns as a result of respondent material packet drop-offs versus short in-person conversations, as well as variation by demographic and other health status subgroups. While limited in size and geographic area by the ongoing pandemic, analysis of this return to field can illuminate the challenges and implications of a new approach to panel recruitment for the MCBS and beyond.