Article Abstract:
Doctors can do much to help their patients find performance data on health care plans and services. Many health care plans report the number of services they provide, such as childhood vaccinations and other preventive services. These reports are collected in databases such as the HEDIS database. This information can then be used by the public to find health care plans that provide high-quality care. However, a study published in 2000 found that health care plans were the most common users of this information. Doctors and patients were much less likely to use these databases.
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Article Abstract:
Public performance reports that evaluate physicians and hospitals will not influence patient choice unless patients are aware of the report. These so-called "report cards" are supposed to allow patients to choose the best doctors and hospitals. Researchers surveyed 474 patients in Pennsylvania who had had coronary artery bypass surgery. Only 20% of the patients were aware that the state of Pennsylvania publishes a consumer guide detailing mortality rates for bypass surgery at each hospital. Only 12% knew about the guide before the had surgery. Fewer than 1% knew the rating of the hospital or surgeon where they had the operation.
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Article Abstract:
More work is needed to reach the goal of providing detailed information on the performance of hospitals and individual physicians to the public. The most widely used performance assessment tool is HEDIS, which was developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). So far, NCQA has evaluated more than 300 HMOs. The Health Care Financing Administration has begun using HEDIS data to evaluate health plans serving Medicare patients. However, these detailed report cards may confuse many consumers and more research is needed to determine how the information should be disseminated.
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