Here are answers to some common questions about the Colorado Health Access Survey.
What is the Colorado Health Access Survey?
The Colorado Health Access Survey (CHAS) is conducted every other year to measure the health of Coloradans, their interactions with the health care system, the impact of major health care policy developments, and the social factors that impact their health. More than 10,000 households are surveyed anonymously, online and by phone, to gather a representative sample of Colorado’s regions and population. The Colorado Health Institute (CHI) administers the CHAS through its survey vendor, NORC (see below for more information).
Why should I complete the survey?
CHAS data plays a critical role in helping state and local leaders and agencies, community organizations, advocates, and researchers to understand health and social needs in our state so they can determine how best to address them. As the number of available data resources begins to dwindle, it is more important than ever that Coloradans have the information they need to make informed decisions to drive good health policy. Your decision to complete the survey is your choice, and you are not required to answer any specific question.
Blog post: Your Voice Matters. Take the Colorado Health Access Survey.
Is the survey confidential?
The CHAS is voluntary and confidential. Information that personally identifies you in any way, such as your address, is on a password-protected secure internal NORC server with access limited to project staff. No one at CHI will see your name or contact information. At the end of data collection, this information is deleted. Any published study results will be released in summary form and will not contain identifiable personal information. Your decision to participate will not affect your insurance, health care, or relationship with any state or federal agency.
How do you use the survey data?
Data from the CHAS are used to identify trends, shortcomings, and successes in Colorado’s health systems. Policymakers, public health agencies, researchers, foundations, news media, and nonprofits, including the Colorado Health Institute, use CHAS data to inform their work. To see how this data has been publicly shared in the past, visit: https://www.coloradohealthinstitute.org/research/CHAS.
Who sponsors the Colorado Health Access Survey?
The survey is funded through a combination of philanthropic, public, and private sponsors.
What is NORC?
NORC at The University of Chicago is a nonprofit social science research organization. CHI has contracted with NORC to conduct the Colorado Health Access Survey since 2020.
How is the state of Colorado involved?
The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Office of eHealth Innovation, and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment sponsored questions on the 2025 survey. The Colorado Division of Insurance also provided general sponsorship of the survey. These agencies use CHAS data to inform their work. They receive only aggregate data on their sponsored questions. No federal governmental agency directly sponsors the CHAS. Your decision to participate will not affect your relationship with any state or federal agency, and these groups will not have access to identifiable data from the survey.
Will state or federal agencies have access to sensitive data?
CHAS data is private and confidential, and both CHI and NORC strictly adhere to federal and state privacy laws. Any information you share cannot be tied directly to you, therefore sensitive data like race or sexual orientation is not at risk of being connected to you and could not be shared by CHI.
How and where is CHAS data stored? How is it protected?
Data is collected by NORC and stored on its password-protected secure internal servers. NORC will securely share a dataset with CHI that will be stored on our own secure internal servers. CHI’s dataset does not include identifying information, such as addresses. CHI and NORC both follow federal and state privacy laws and adhere to data security best practices.
I got an invitation to fill out a Weld County health survey. Is this the same thing?
No. Weld County’s Health Department is conducting its own community health survey. Both surveys are important to understanding the health of our communities. If you received both invitations, we encourage you to fill out both surveys. More information about Weld County’s survey is available on its website.
Who do I contact if I still have questions?
If you have questions or comments about the survey, please email Lindsey Whittington, Principal Investigator, at CHAS@coloradohealthinstitute.org.
PLEASE NOTE: The Colorado Health Institute or NORC will never make unsolicited calls, will never try to sell you anything, and will never ask for a donation as part of Colorado Health Access Survey. Nobody will ask you for any credit card, bank account, or social security number information. If you are contacted by anybody requesting this information, do not share it and contact the appropriate authorities.