Guidance for sponsors of consumer reports on health care quality
Generating Scores That Show Differences in Performance
The critical link between collecting performance information and sharing that information
with others is the process of generating scores. The nature of the score is often
inherent in the measure (e.g., an overall rating on a 1-10 scale). But even in such
simple cases, you still have to decide exactly what information you will present
to consumers.
While this decision is largely technical, it can be quite controversial politically.
Often, the easiest scores for the public to understand and use are unappealing to
the providers being measured because they make it easier to see differences in performance.
Sponsors need to make decisions on these issues carefully, allowing enough lead
time for any disagreements to be aired and resolved.
This section discusses the following topics:
A related issue is how to compare scores and set thresholds when placing different plans or providers into different categories. Learn more
about these topics in Choosing a Point of Comparison.
Also in "Translate Data Into Information"
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