Comparing the Quality of Health Care Providers
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Mark McClellan
This article introduces a new approach for evaluating the quality of healthcare providers, including an integrated solution to several problems that limit the usefulness of available methods. Our approach combines information from all the quality indicators available for a provider (e.g., from other years, other patients, or other indicators for the same patients) to estimate more accurately the provider’s previous or expected quality. The approach also provides an empirical basis for comparing and combining alternative quality indicators, thereby enabling policy makers to choose among potential indicators, explore the potential bias in alternative measures, and increase the value of quality measures for assessing and improving care. Using hospital care for elderly heart attack patients as an example, we demonstrate that these methods can be used to create reliable, precise predictions about provider quality. Comparing quality of care across providers may be far more feasible than many now believe.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Article
- Introduction to Frontiers in Health Policy Research, Volume 3
- Why Do Some Firms Spend So Much on Medical Care? Accounting for Variation
- The Technology of Birth: Is It Worth It?
- Regional Inequality in Medicare Spending: The Key to Medicare Reform?
- What Does HMO Market Share Measure? Examining Provider Choice Restrictions
- Comparing the Quality of Health Care Providers
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Article
- Introduction to Frontiers in Health Policy Research, Volume 3
- Why Do Some Firms Spend So Much on Medical Care? Accounting for Variation
- The Technology of Birth: Is It Worth It?
- Regional Inequality in Medicare Spending: The Key to Medicare Reform?
- What Does HMO Market Share Measure? Examining Provider Choice Restrictions
- Comparing the Quality of Health Care Providers
