Users of Public Reports of Hospital Quality: Who, What, Why, and How?

States, community quality collaboratives, and others are investing millions of dollars in the sponsorship and development of public reports on the quality of hospital care. The hope is that these reports will stimulate quality improvement, increase accountability, and improve consumer choices. Although the major method of distributing these reports is through Web sites, it is not known who visits these public reporting Web sites or how Web site visitors use the data presented. This report provides information on who visits these sites and how they use the information, focusing on consumers and health care professionals, the primary target audiences.

Prepared by:
Naomi S. Bardach, M.D.
University of California, San Francisco
Judith H. Hibbard, Ph.D.
University of Oregon
R. Adams Dudley, M.D., M.B.A.
University of California, San Francisco

With assistance from:
Renee Asteria-Penaloza, M.P.H.
Lena Libatique
Edie Wade, Ph.D.
Shoujun Zhao, Ph.D.
Jim Anderson, M.A.
Aaron Kellem, B.A.

Contents

This document is in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without permission. AHRQ appreciates citation as to source.