Health Care Reform: 'Report Cards' Are Useful but Significant Issues Need to BeAddressed

摘要

Health reform proposals the Congress is considering include provisions requiringhealth plans to collect and report to prespective purchasers information about quality of care they furnish. Presumably, purchaser will use such 'report cards' to compare health plans and select one that provides the desired level of quality and price. Assessing health care quality is not an innovative concept. But evaluating the quality of care using certain indicators and publishing the information in a manner that allows consumers to compare health plans is new. If report care development is not approached thoughtfully and carefully, individual providers might be misled by inaccurate information.