Guidance for sponsors of consumer reports on health care quality
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Spotlight
Audio Podcast: The Effects of Out-of-Pocket Costs on Enrollees’ Experiences With
Health Plans: Implications for Consumer Reporting
Ted von Glahn from the
Pacific Business Group on Health discusses the factors underlying differences in
the CAHPS “rating of care” measure for PPOs and HMOs and the implications for reporting
survey results across different types of health plans. To access the recording,
go to http://talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/resources/Podcasts_and_Webinar.aspx#costs.
Free User Surveys for Public Reports: The Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ) has developed Web surveys that enable developers of public reports
to find out how well their reports are meeting their users’ needs. Learn more at
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/value/publicsurveys.htm.
Read about the audiences for quality reports at
https://www.talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/plan/audience/default.aspx.
State-of-the-Art of Hospital and Physician/Physician Group Public Reports:
A report by the Informed Patient Institute (IPI) analyzes 126 hospital and 27 physician/physician
group web sites. The report examines the types of information being made available
to the public and the different display formats used to convey the performance information.
Read the report at
http://www.informedpatientinstitute.org/pdf/AHRQ%20Report%20Card%20Paper%208-10-11.pdf.
Visit the Informed Patient Institute at
http://www.informedpatientinstitute.org.
State Health Insurance Exchange Websites: A Review, Discussion, and Recommendations
for Providing Consumers Information About Quality and Performance: A report
by the Informed Patient Institute (IPI) examines the content, format, and features
of 70 Web-based reports on health plan quality in order to inform decisions that
States will need to make for their Health Insurance Exchange Web sites. Read the
report at
http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/health/medicare_insurance/2011-07/2011-cronin-report-final.pdf.
Visit the Informed Patient Institute at
http://www.informedpatientinstitute.org.
Past Spotlights
Audio Podcast: Use of “Roll-ups” to Report CAHPS Survey Results and Other
Quality Measures
Marc Elliott and David Kanouse from RAND talk about the use of composites measures
and “roll-up” scores to summarize a health care organization’s performance
within and across domains of quality, including patient experience. To access the
recording, go to http://talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/resources/Podcasts_and_Webinar.aspx#rollups.
Quality Care Finder: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has
launched a new public reporting tool to empower consumers to make informed choices
about their health care. Quality Care Finder provides consumers with one online
destination to access all of Medicare’s Compare tools, including comparative information
on hospitals, nursing homes and health plans. Visit
www.Medicare.gov/QualityCareFinder. Read the press release at
https://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4042.
Audio Podcast: How Social Media Can Draw Visitors to a Quality Report
Barbara Lambiaso and Lauren Piccolo from Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP)
talk about how MHQP uses social media to promote awareness and use of comparative
quality reports. To access the recording, go to
http://talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/resources/Podcasts_and_Webinar.aspx#pod1
Audio Podcast: Rating the Raters: How the Informed Patient Institute Assesses Health
Care Quality Reports
Carol Cronin from the Informed Patient Institute (IPI) talks about how the IPI assesses
and grades comparative reports on health care quality. To access the recording,
go to http://talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/resources/Podcasts_and_Webinar.aspx#pod2
Audio Podcast: Branding Your Quality Report
Lisa Mason from the Greater Detroit Area Health Council provides helpful advice
on branding your quality report. To access the recording, go to
http://talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/resources/Podcasts_and_Webinar.aspx#pod3
Video Podcast: Tour the TalkingQuality Site
This video podcast provides an overview of the TalkingQuality site. To access the
recording, go to http://talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/resources/Podcasts_and_Webinar.aspx#pod4.
Webinar: Who Are You Talking To? New Insights Into the Audience for Consumer Reports
on Health Care Quality (May 2011) -- Patrick McCabe, a partner at GYMR Public
Relations in Washington, DC, and Jeff Rabkin, president of Wowza in Minneapolis,
MN, discussed what they have learned about the kinds of people who are interested
in quality reports, how and when they seek health care information, and what this
means for report developers. To learn more about the webinar and access the recordings,
go to https://www.talkingquality.ahrq.gov/content/resources/Podcasts_and_Webinar.aspx#healthcarequality.
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality: The Informed Patient Institute
(IPI) has released several reports that discuss what patients and family members
in certain States can do if they have a concern about health care quality. Learn
more at
http://www.informedpatientinstitute.org/index.html
Model Public Report Elements: A Sampler: This guide provides an illustrative
menu of public report elements from health care provider performance reports from
around the country. The examples highlighted in the Sampler span five core Web pages
that constitute a public report and are present on nearly all public reporting Web
sites. Additional examples illustrate functional possibilities of Web sites and
demonstrate how to facilitate use by consumers and how to engage consumers in their
care. Learn more at http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/value/pubrptsampler.htm
New Wisconsin law aims to improve health care transparency. Under a new law
that went into effect on January 1, Wisconsin residents are entitled to information
about costs and quality for the most common types of care provided by hospitals
and clinics. One key element of this law is that hospitals and clinics that report
data to quality organizations must tell patients how to obtain that information.
To learn more, go to:
- Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2009 Wisconsin Act 146:
http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/2009wisact146/
- Health Care Transparency Law Takes Effect, Wisconsin State Journal, January 7, 2011:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/article_e50dcbd0-19ed-11e0-9962-001cc4c002e0.html.
Webinar, June 14, 2010: Two of the developers of TalkingQuality presented
a tour of the site to AHRQ’s Chartered Value Exchanges (CVE’s) on June 14th,
2010. The Webinar provides an overview of the TalkingQuality site and highlights
features that are likely to be of interest to CVE’s as well as other sponsors of
public reports.
- View presentation slides—Lise Rybowski (PDF,
366 KB; PDF Help)
- Listen to an audio recording of the Webcast. (.mp3,
61 mins)
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality: The Informed Patient Institute
(IPI) has released three reports that discuss what patients and family members can
do if they have a concern about quality. The Community Health Foundation of Western
and Central New York funded the development of the reports.
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a New York Hospital
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a New York Nursing Home
What to Do if You Have a Concern About the Quality of Care from a New York Doctor
The Communication Toolkit: Using Information to Get High Quality Care: This
Toolkit provides free health communication materials and guidance on educating a
workforce about health care quality. It was developed by the American Institutes
for Research for the National Business Group on Health. Access the toolkit at
http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/usinginformation/Toolkit.aspx.
Getting Tools Used: This report by the Center for Advancing Health provides
insights and lessons on the developing and disseminating tools that support people
in making decisions about their health care. Access the report at
http://www.cfah.org/activities/tools.cfm. (PDF
File, 2401 KB; PDF Help)
The Community Quality Collaborative Leader's Guide to Engaging Consumer Advocates:
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality published this guide for organizations
interested in partnering with consumer advocates in their communities to produce
and promote consumer reports on quality. Access the guide at
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/value/caguide.htm. (PDF
File, 181 KB; PDF Help)
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality: The Informed Patient Institute
(IPI) has released three reports that discuss what patients and family members can
do if they have a concern about quality. The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF)
funded the development of the reports, which include both California-specific and
national information.
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a California Hospital
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a California Nursing Home
What To Do If You Have a Concern About Quality in a California Physician's Office
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