Best Practices in Public Reporting No. 1: How to Effectively Present Health Care Performance Data to Consumers

摘要

Consumers have been slow to use comparative performance reports to make health care choices. Their use of reports, however, can influence quality in at least three ways: (1) Informed choices make it more likely that consumers will obtain high-quality health care for themselves and their family members. (2) The collective effect of many informed choices may stimulate quality improvement among providers. That is, providers may be motivated to improve as a way to protect or enhance their market share. (3) Public reports that affect providers public image by identifying them as high-quality or low-quality providers may encourage them to improve the quality of care they provide, to protect or enhance their reputations.