Improving Health Care Quality Reporting: Lessons from the California HealthCare Foundation

Publication Date: January 2007

Publisher: California HealthCare Foundation

Author(s): Beth Stevens; Tim Lake; Erin Fries Taylor; Inc. Mathematica Policy Research

Research Area: Health

Type: Brief

Coverage: California

Abstract:

While the cost of care is among the most serious concerns within the health care, public policy and foundation sectors, several factors have combined to focus increasing attention on the quality of health care. This issue brief traces the evolution of the California HealthCare Foundation's work as a leading proponent of the movement to measure and report on health care quality. Specifically, it looks at the Foundation's efforts to promote public reporting on the quality of California hospitals, physician groups, and nursing homes from 1998 to 2005. The authors note that CHCF's work in this area provides valuable lessons to the rest of the field, including:

*Involving stakeholders in measurement systems; *Addressing the intrinsic challenges of quality measurement; and *Designing effective quality reporting systems.

The brief identifies the lessons learned and considers avenues for future foundation involvement. It concludes that while quality reporting measurements are rapidly evolving and national standardization is emerging, there are still opportunities to support feasible quality measurement efforts useful to patients and providers in all settings.