Are healthcare quality "report cards" reaching consumers? Awareness in the chronically ill population.

BACKGROUND

Significant investments have been made to provide comparative healthcare quality information (CQI) to the public, but whether these efforts are increasing awareness of CQI is unknown.

OBJECTIVES

To provide regional estimates of change in awareness of CQI among the chronically ill population residing in 14 geographic regions of the United States between 2008 and 2012. Additionally, to examine its correlation with the changes in the availability of quality reports.

STUDY DESIGN

Data from 2 waves (2008 and 2012) of a random-digit dial survey of 11,896 adults with chronic illness.

METHODS

Regression-adjusted change in the percentage of respondents aware of physician and hospital CQI, and Pearson correlations between regional change in awareness of CQI and regional change in availability of quality reports.

RESULTS

While the number of reports on both hospital quality and physician quality increased between 2008 and 2012, there was significant change in awareness of only physician CQI (12.8% to 16.2%, regression-adjusted change of 3.7 percentage points; P < .05). No significant correlation was found between the change in awareness of CQI and the change in availability of hospital quality reports or physician quality reports.

CONCLUSIONS

Awareness of physician CQI among the chronically ill increased modestly between 2008 and 2012, but no significant increase in awareness of hospital quality was observed. As efforts to report CQI accelerate, more attention to approaches to dissemination may be warranted in order to increase awareness in the chronically ill population.