Public reporting and transparency are frequent buzzwords in this consumer-directed era of patient care.
Bob Wachter wonders why patients aren’t using the data that’s already out there, as a recent study showed that most patients use word-of-mouth when choosing a doctor.
Is it because of technical limitations of websites, or something “more fundamental,” Dr Wachter asks.
I still think it’s the lack of awareness. A culture shift will be required for patients to turn to the web to look for their doctor’s or hospital’s quality information. I have no doubt it will come, and yes, eventually it will be “the game-changer everyone’s been waiting for.”
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{ 4 comments }
I agree that it will matter, but right now people do not know what the different quality indicators mean.
Look at JCAHO and Press Gainey. Would you trust either to assess quality?
We need to have a consensus of what indicates quality for different specialties before we can use this kind of information. That is still a long way off.
Perhaps these so-called quality report cards would take on more meaning if patients and not third party payors were responsible for the fees. As long as care is perceived as “free”, the only measure important to prospective patients is participation in their healthplan.
Data needs to be usable and needs to differentiate between providers. As an example, Massachusetts has taken first steps in this direction, but more work is needed. See http://bit.ly/16fM4
I suspect it’s not simply a lack of awareness but a disconnect between knowing there’s valuable info out there, and realizing that it could really make an impact on their lives as patients.
As an analogy, I knew about Twitter almost a year before I actually considered it to be of any use to me as a website owner.
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