Model Public Report Elements: A Sampler

III. Functionality and Layout

A. Capacity To Narrow Selection of Providers Based on Consumer Preferences

Information included in a public report can be overwhelming to consumers.One strategy to reduce the cognitive burden for consumers is to enable them to systematically reduce the fields of information to the subset that is pertinent to them.By taking advantage of the functionalities available in a Web-based format and letting users narrow their choices based on their preferences and needs, you can restrict information to the data points of interest. 

Report sponsors can enable consumers to narrow the fields by geography, level of quality of care (e.g., high-quality providers), or health condition or procedure.Then consumers can focus on the information most important to them.

The next examples show a report that allows users to narrow their search to a subset of participating providers based on geography, as well as condition.The main search page is shown with the location tab selected, followed by a results page showing hospitals in the selected location and options to search further by condition.

Tool: CalHospitalCompare

Sponsors: California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce, the California HealthCare Foundation, and the University of California, San Francisco

URL: http://www.calhospitalcompare.org (main page); http://www.calhospitalcompare.org/results.aspx?l=san%20francisco&v=1 (results page)

B. Capacity To Sort Providers Based on Performance

In this example, a table of performance data is produced, and the user can sort hospitals based on any of the aspects of performance reported.  The site allows the user to rearrange the hospitals presented by selecting the column headings.Doing so then sorts the hospitals by performance on the indicator named in the column heading. The table below is sorted by mortality rating.

Tool: PHC4

Sponsor: Pennsylvania Cost Containment Council

URL: http://www.phc4.org/hpr/Results.aspx?Years=20081-20084&CC=Septicemia&CID=0&Facilities=4610%2c0900%2c1660%2c1860%2c1610  

Arrows under all column headings in the following example allow the user to sort in either direction (i.e., from highest to lowest or lowest to highest cases or rates). The table below is sorted by risk-adjusted mortality rate from lowest to highest rates.

Tool: Kentucky Hospital Association Quality Reports

Sponsor: Kentucky Hospital Association

URL: http://info.kyha.com/qualitydata/iqisite/SelectReport.asp?IndID=IQI12&TimePeriod=5&SortOrder=RValue&SortDir=ASC&GroupOpt=none&ACLimit