The majority of hospital leaders indicated the measures reported on Hospital Compare influence quality improvement efforts, but they also reported concerns over the clinical meaningfulness and consequences of public reporting, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Researchers mailed a questionnaire to hospital leaders of 630 U.S. hospitals assessing levels of agreements with statements related to quality measures and using measures for improvement activities.
Here are eight key findings on hospital leaders' attitudes toward published quality data.
1. More than 70 percent of hospital leaders indicated public reporting stimulates quality improvement activity.
2. Approximately 65 percent of hospital leaders said public reporting stimulates cost improvement activity.
3. Just over half, 53.3 percent, said public reporting stimulates volume improvement activity.
4. The majority of hospital leaders indicated their hospital is able to influence performance on processes of care, at 96.4 percent.
5. Slightly fewer, 94.2 percent, said they were able to influence performance on patient experience measures.
6. Nearly 90 percent of hospital leaders said the hospital's reputation is influenced by patient experience measures, mostly mortality (77.4 percent), readmission (69.9 percent) and process measures (76.3 percent).
7. Eighty-seven percent of hospital leaders include hospital performance on publicly reported measures in their hospital's yearly goals, and an even higher percentage discuss these results with the board of trustees (90.2 percent) or senior clinical and administrative leaders (94.3 percent).
8. CEOs and CMOs were more likely to agree that public reporting boosts quality improvement than chief quality officers or vice presidents of quality.
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