Research in Action
Americans are demanding greater value and quality in their health
care. But to achieve these goals
in today's rapidly changing health care environment, consumers
need solid, reliable information to
help them:
- Choose among health care plans, practitioners, and
facilities.
- Participate more actively in their personal health care
decisions (treatments).
Overview
AHCPR plays a unique role in helping to provide the information
consumers need and want.
Following are examples of AHCPR-sponsored research, demonstration
projects, and other
activities that promote informed consumer decisionmaking.
Plans, Practitioners, and Facilities
A major issue for consumers and other health care purchasers is
how to pick health care plans,
practitioners, and facilities based on quality and value. One
important tool that can help is "report
cards"—comparative information on plans' abilities to provide
high-quality, accessible services
that satisfy consumers.
AHCPR is at the forefront of efforts to gather information from
consumers and provide them with
the tools they need to make more informed choices about their
health care. Following are some
AHCPR initiatives in this area:
Consumer Surveys. Through a contract with the
Research Triangle Institute, AHCPR
designed a survey to collect key information on consumers'
attitudes about access to
health care, use of specific services, health outcomes, perceived
quality of care, and
satisfaction with care. This survey builds on the experience of
health care purchasers,
managed care plans, and other potential users.
Through the Consumer Assessments of Health Plans
Study, selected organizations will
work with AHCPR to refine and test existing sets of questions
about consumer
perceptions of health care plans and services. The resulting
survey protocols will be used
to obtain information from consumers in a variety of real-world
settings. The ultimate goal
of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of the survey results
in helping consumers select
health plans.
Pilot Scorecard. A collaborative project with the
State of Oregon and the AHCPR
regional Rural Health Center at the University of Washington and
Oregon Health Sciences
University will develop a pilot scorecard on the quality of
health care plans and use the
results to develop options for broad implementation by the State
of Oregon.
Innovative Information Tools. Six projects funded
under the Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) Program are developing innovative computer
software and other
materials to help consumers—including those who are members of
minority groups,
disabled, or have low reading skills—make informed choices about
health care plans and
providers.
|
SBIR awardees are encouraged to commercialize their
research. One such product now
on the market is the video game "Rex Ronan—Experimental
Surgeon," which teaches
young people the dangers of tobacco use.
|
Research. AHCPR funds research on relevant topics
such as how well consumers
understand managed care and quality indicators, and the extent to
which they find these
indicators useful in making health care choices.
Expert meeting. Researchers, policymakers, industry
representatives, and members of
consumer organizations with "cutting-edge" expertise in consumer
information helped
AHCPR gain a better understanding of consumer information needs
and preferences.
(April 1994)
Focus groups. Vulnerable consumers—including rural
residents, persons with low
incomes, African Americans, and Hispanics—revealed how they
define quality in a health
care plan, what kinds of information they want, and what
questions they might ask during
the plan selection process. (September 1994)
Conference. Consumers, employers, health policy
experts, and researchers shared diverse
viewpoints regarding existing knowledge and experience in
conducting and interpreting
consumer surveys. The conference was cosponsored by the Robert
Wood Johnson
Foundation. (September 1994)
Personal Health Care Decisions
Guideline Information. AHCPR publishes free
"consumer guides" about the benefits and
risks of treatments for specific medical conditions. These
brochures are based on clinical
practice guidelines, which are supported by AHCPR to improve the
quality and
effectiveness of care.
AHCPR has widely publicized and
disseminated nearly 9 million consumer guides.
AHCPR also grants permission to private-sector groups to reprint
and distribute
guideline publications; thus far, reprints of over 5 million
consumer guides have
been approved. For example, one pharmaceutical company is
reprinting and using
the consumer guide on heart failure in the Nation's largest
general practice clinical
trial.
Other Consumer Publications. AHCPR publishes other
consumer information,
including: Checkup on Health Insurance Choices, to help
consumers select health
insurance plans; and Questions To Ask Your Doctor Before You
Have Surgery, to help
consumers decide about surgery and get the best results. AHCPR is
developing other
publications to help consumers become better informed users of
the health care system.
- Interactive Videos. AHCPR-supported Patient Outcomes
Research Teams studying back
pain, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostate cancer, and
ischemic heart disease
provided the science that led to the development of interactive
video programs on these
topics by the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making.
The videos help patients
make decisions about treatment options based on their probable
risks and benefits.
AHCPR awarded two grants for performing
randomized trials to compare use of
the back pain and BPH videos to more traditional methods of
providing consumer
information on these topics.
Leading consumer advocates have praised AHCPR's consumer
guides. Syndicated columnist
Ann Landers has called the consumer guide on depression "the best
material on the
subject—most comprehensive and least technical."
The consumer guides are used—and work. For example, Knox
Community Hospital in Mount
Vernon, Ohio, reports that, thanks to the consumer guide on acute
pain management, patients
are less anxious, recover faster, and are better able to manage
their conditions following
discharge from the hospital.
AHRQ, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, is
the lead agency charged with
supporting research designed to improve the quality of health
care, reduce its cost, and broaden
access to essential services. AHRQ's broad programs of research,
clinical guideline development,
and technology assessment bring practical, science-based
information to medical practitioners and
to consumers and other health care purchasers.
AHCPR Publication No. 96-P046
Current as of March 1997
Internet Citation:
Improving Consumer Choice. Research in Action Fact Sheet. AHCPR Publication No. 96-P046, March 1997. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/consum.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850