5. Public Reporting as a Quality Improvement Strategy

Author,
Year 10. KQ3:Results 11. KQ4: Results 12. KQ5: Results 13. KQ6: Results 14. Summary
public so that they have
level data or only
informed decisionmaking.
institutional. Potential
----
concerns included
Re: what the report cards
accuracy of data,
should contain:
timeliness of release, and
Stakeholders agreed that
ability for the public to
providing patient factors
(e.g., co-morbidities),
clinical factors (e.g., high
quality surgeons with
high mortality rates due
to tackling more difficult
cases), and institutional
contextual factors (e.g.,
quality assurance
committees, values, etc.)
in cardiac report cards is
essential
----
Majority felt it was
important to provide both
institutional and
individual surgeon data.
Others thought it better to
only use institutional data
because surgeons do not
work alone.
Some worried that public
disclosure at the
individual level would
lead to hysteria in the
public, bad reputations
for surgeons, too much
detail for the general
public, would violate
surgeons’ privacy, and
would be unnecessary
for improving the quality
of care.
-----
Risk-adjustment is
important for adequate
comparison. Majority
understand the data.
I-38
15. Funder of
Research/
Report
Outcomes
Research
Team. One
author
supported by
Ontario
Ministry of
Health and
Long-term
Care Career
Scientist Award