Profession
Public favors quality reporting but uncertain about pay-for-performance
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 7, 2008
Most patients believe the quality of care physicians and hospitals provide can be fairly graded, but only about a third of patients say such ratings should be used to determine pay, according to a survey.
A February Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive poll of 2,015 adults found that six in 10 patients said "there are fair and reliable ways" of measuring and comparing medical groups and hospitals on quality. That figure was up from 49% in 2006.
A majority of respondents said that patient-satisfaction surveys, medical board and quality group assessments, and measuring the use of preventive screening tests and chronic condition management were fair methods to compare performance.
Less than half said use of electronic medical records or malpractice suits filed are fair game for quality reporting.
Only 38% of respondents favored paying more to medical groups and hospitals that score better on quality metrics and paying less to those that fare poorly, while 15% opposed the idea and 47% said they were unsure.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/04/07/prbf0407.htm.
