Public reports influence providers not patients
A new Health Foundation report has called into question the link between public reporting of hospital performance and increased consumer choice by patients. The report demonstrates that public reporting can have a major impact on improving hospitals’ quality of care following poor results.
The report, entitled ‘Does public release of performance results improve quality of care?’, is published as part of the Quest for Quality and Improved Performance (QQUIP) project, funded by The Health Foundation. It was written by Paul Shekelle and colleagues from the RAND Corporation.
The report looks primarily at research from the USA investigating the effects of public reporting. Even in a country with an established market in healthcare, patient choice of hospital is not affected by poor results.
However, the public release of poor data was a major driving force in hospitals improving their quality of care. This was due to concerns about reputation and public image. In New York, poor results also led to an increase in surgeons resigning.
Public reporting may also generate greater disparity between ethnic groups therefore widening health inequalities and surgeons may be less willing to operate on high-risk patients.
Vin McLoughlin, Deputy Chief Executive of the Health Foundation and QQUIP lead said:
‘The messages from this report for the UK are clear. The UK needs to make sure that professional bodies and hospitals are closely involved in the development of reporting systems as they are most directly affected by their results. The design of public information must meet the needs of patients and the public.’
