Reporting comparative results from hospital patient surveys

Externally-reported assessments of hospital quality are in increasing deman d, as consumers, purchasers, providers, and public policy makers express gr owing interest in public disclosure of performance information. This articl e presents an analysis of a groundbreaking program in Massachusetts to meas ure and disseminate comparative quality information about patients' hospita l experiences. The article emphasizes the reporting structure that was deve loped to address the project's dual goals of improving the quality of care delivered statewide while also advancing public accountability. Numerous tr ade-offs were encountered in developing reports that would satisfy a range of purchaser and provider constituencies. The final result was a reporting framework that emphasized preserving detail to ensure visibility for each p articipating hospital's strengths as well as its priority improvement areas . By avoiding oversimplification of the results, the measurement project he lped to support a broad range of successful improvement activity statewide.