I. Early Strategic Decisions: Options and Examples

A. Types of Providers and Measures

In developing public reports, it is important to make some decisions early. For example:

• Will your report feature quality ratings for more than one type of provider, such as hospitals and physician organizations?
• Will you start with condition-specific reports and expand to other conditions, procedures, and/or populations from there?
• Will your report group individual measures into categories of quality, such as patient experience and provider safety?

If you are currently reporting on or plan to report on multiple types of providers, it is optimal to have all provider categories on one site.  It is typically easier for the consumer to navigate if you use a similar format and approach for displaying comparative data for each type of provider. Similarly, if your report begins with one condition and then later expands to other conditions, it is preferable to have all the condition-specific information available on one site.  Because families may be coping with multiple conditions within the same household or same individual family member, integrating the information will make it easier to use.

Organizing individual quality measures into categories that represent dimensions of quality also helps consumers learn that quality is multidimensional. Refer to Sections II A and B.

This example shows how to report performance data on two provider types at one site.

Tool: MyCareCompare.Org

Sponsor: Greater Detroit Area Health Council

URL: http://www.mycarecompare.org/site

This example lets the user choose condition-specific quality indicators.

Tool:  Partner for Quality Care

Sponsor:  Oregon Health Care Quality Corp

URL: http://www.partnerforqualitycare.org/selection.php

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