UNDERSTANDING THE QUALITY CHALLENGE FOR HEALTH CONSUMERS - THE KAISERAHCPR SURVEY/

Background and purpose: ''Americans as Health Care Consumers: The Role of Quality Information:'' a nationally representative telephone surve y of 2,006 adults, designed by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation ( Kaiser) and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was presented at the Kaiser/AHCPR conference ''Value and Choice: Providing Consumers with Information on the Quality of Care'' in Arlington, Virginia, October 2 9-30, 1996. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Asso ciates between July 16 and September 5, 1996, and has a margin of erro r of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Results: The survey found that Americans value quality but that the use of quality indicators is lik ely to be only one factor in their decision making, given their relian ce on and preference for quality information from their physicians, fr iends, and family. A plurality (42%) chose having high quality of care as their most important concern, but only 39% reported seeing informa tion comparing health plans, and only about one-third of that group sa id they used this information themselves to make decisions. The follow ing are possible explanations for why consumers don't use information on quality in making health care decisions: They trust friends, famili es, and physicians about all other sources for advice; They do not (at the time of the survey) have many health plan choices to make; or The y lack familiarity with comparative health care quality information.