Biomaterial Database

Designing effective health care quality transparency initiatives. 2009

Ha T Tu, and Johanna R Lauer

Among the many health care quality transparency initiatives introduced in recent years, two state-based programs stand out for thoughtful design, implementation and usable, useful data: CalHospitalCompare, a report card for California hospitals, and Massachusetts Health Quality Partners, a report card for Massachusetts primary care physician groups. According to a new Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) analysis, both programs share key elements that contribute to their effectiveness: engaging and collaborating with the provider community from the outset; paying particular attention to the caliber of the quality data reported; presenting the quality data to consumers in formats that are easy to understand and remember; and providing hospitals and physicians with detailed information on their own performance. Quality transparency initiatives that do not focus sufficiently on these key design and implementation elements are unlikely to influence quality improvement in a meaningful way.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008404	Massachusetts	State bounded on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and on the west by New York.
D010821	Physicians, Family	Those physicians who have completed the education requirements specified by the American Academy of Family Physicians.	Family Physician,Family Physicians,Physician, Family
D011787	Quality of Health Care	The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.	Pharmacy Audit,Quality of Care,Quality of Healthcare,Audit, Pharmacy,Care Quality,Health Care Quality,Healthcare Quality,Pharmacy Audits
D002140	California	State bounded on the east by Nevada and Arizona, on the south by Mexico and the Pacific Ocean on the south and west, and on the north by Oregon.
D003256	Community Participation	Involvement of members of the community in the affairs of that community.	Community Action,Consumer Involvement,Consumer Participation,Community Involvement,Public Participation,Action, Community,Actions, Community,Community Actions,Community Involvements,Consumer Involvements,Involvement, Community,Involvement, Consumer,Involvements, Community,Participation, Community,Participation, Consumer,Participation, Public
D003625	Data Collection	Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.	Data Collection Methods,Dual Data Collection,Collection Method, Data,Collection Methods, Data,Collection, Data,Collection, Dual Data,Data Collection Method,Method, Data Collection,Methods, Data Collection
D006761	Hospitals	Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.	Hospital
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D019984	Quality Indicators, Health Care	Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.	Global Trigger Tool, Healthcare,Health Metrics,Healthcare Global Trigger Tool,Quality Indicators, Healthcare,Health Metric,Healthcare Quality Indicator,Healthcare Quality Indicators,Indicator, Healthcare Quality,Indicators, Healthcare Quality,Metrics, Health,Quality Indicator, Healthcare
D019985	Benchmarking	Method of measuring performance against established standards of best practice.	Benchmarking, Health Care,Benchmarks,Best Practice Analysis,Metrics,Benchmark,Benchmarking, Healthcare,Analysis, Best Practice,Health Care Benchmarking,Healthcare Benchmarking