Effective reports for health care quality data: lessons from a CAHPS demonstration in Washington State.

Abstract

Advances in quality measurement and increased interest by is more difficult than communication about other industries because of the tremendous range of needs that people have lay persons in being more involved in decisions about their health care have created a significant demand from consumers for health care [3]. In recent years, important steps have been taken to address for information on quality of health care [1–3]. Developing easy-to-use and understandable formats for presenting health these issues. Health care accreditation, regulatory, and government organizations in the USA have made a concerted effort care quality information to consumers is a necessary condition for meeting this demand and for stimulating competition on to develop and standardize measures of health care quality. The National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) has, over quality. Consumers’ decisions about which health plan and provider several years, refined its Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) which has set standards for measures to select often are not based on standardized quality information, but recent studies suggest that there is increasing of health care quality in managed care health plans. In addition, federal agencies, such as the Agency for Health Care Policy interest in consumer survey data [4]. If consumers can be given salient, accurate, and easily interpretable reports on and Research (AHCPR), and private foundations have funded research to help understand what consumers need to know quality of health care, this may not only help them to make better choices about their health care, but health care about health care quality, how best to measure quality, and how best to present information to consumers [3,4,6–8]. This organizations may also be more motivated to improve the quality of the care that they provide [5]. research includes the work of the Picker-Commonwealth Program for Patient Centered Care [9–11], recent efforts by the There are several challenges in effectively providing health care quality information to consumers. First, there is no Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to assess consumer experiences with care [12], and surveys by AHCPR, the consensus about the critical measures of quality [2]. For other consumer products there are well-established definitions of Commonwealth Fund, and the Kaiser Family Foundation to assess what information consumers are most interested in and excellence. For example, automobiles typically are rated on comfort, fuel economy, power, safety, and reliability by rewould find most useful [4]. Employers and other purchasers also have initiated many cognized sources using commonly accepted measures. No set of accepted measures is yet available for health care. important efforts. The Minnesota Health Data Institute, the Southeastern Michigan Employer and Purchaser, the Second, not enough attention has been paid to developing and assessing effective means of communicating with consumers Massachusetts Health Purchasers Group, and the Pacific Business Group on Health, among others, have all provided about health care quality. Knowledge about how to develop effective consumer report formats for complex health care comparative data on health care quality to consumers. These programs have added significantly to the growing knowledge data is just emerging. Communication about health care data