Recorded presentation

Judith K. Barr, ScD¹, Shulamit Bernard, PhD², Tierney E. Sherwin, MPA¹, Shoshanna Sofaer, DrPH³, David Miranda, PhD⁴, and Nancy Lenfestey, MPH⁵. (1) Research and Education, Qualidigm, 100 Roscommon Road, Suite 200, Middletown, CT 06457, 860-632-6375, Jbarr@qualidigm.org, (2) Health Care Quality Program, RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, PO Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, (3) School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, 17 lexington Avenue, New York City, NY 10010, (4) Center for Beneficiary Choices, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd, Baltimore, MD 21244, (5) Health, Social and Economics Research, RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Public reporting of quality of care ratings for hospitals is becoming more standardized as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posts results of voluntary performance reporting on its web site. The reaction of consumers to these public reports continues to be studied. However, little is known about how physicians might respond to their patients and/or family members who raise questions about these reports in relation to their care. To address this emerging issue, we conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with primary care physicians, cardiologists, and pulmonologists, who were in office-based practice in North Carolina, Connecticut, or New York. We selected these specialties because they are most closely aligned with the clinical quality measures being reported. Each physician was asked to respond to two scenarios posing hypothetical situations in which a patient or a family member questions the physician about results in a public report and raises questions about the hospital where the patient will be hospitalized. The focus was on how the physician would respond to the patient/family member questions and whether the physician would make any changes in the referral process or referral decisions. Findings suggest that physicians have distinctive and varied responses to public reporting. This information will be used by CMS to help inform education and outreach for physicians and beneficiaries.

Learning Objectives:

• The learning objective for this session is to understand and discuss how hospital quality information can be incorporated into the context of a patient visit.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation