The November, 2011 publication of the American Journal of Medical Quality found 80% of the “highly findable” health care rating sites (rating doctors and hospitals) draw on anecdotal patient reports (the patient opinion and experience) more than anything else. According to the article, the sites many are using to research care providers and show highly ranked in the search engines don’t use some of the measurements Health Care would like them to use to help make informed health care decision. Only half of the highly findable sites include quality information and a third feature cost data. Forty-four percent featured performance results based on claims data or board-certification information.
Despite the effort Health Care is making to increase the amount of data and information
available to the general population, a large segment remains frustrated with their inability to find what they need when they need it. Their frustration lies in three key areas: A lack of awareness of what is available, not knowing what questions they need to ask, and then finding the information once they know what they need. Individuals will likely continue to rely on family, friends, and their social networks as a more reliable source until Health Care packages and markets the information in a way that is relevant to the individual.
available to the general population, a large segment remains frustrated with their inability to find what they need when they need it. Their frustration lies in three key areas: A lack of awareness of what is available, not knowing what questions they need to ask, and then finding the information once they know what they need. Individuals will likely continue to rely on family, friends, and their social networks as a more reliable source until Health Care packages and markets the information in a way that is relevant to the individual.As Health Care continues to improve the "transparency" of how with works with the general public it will need to continue to acknowledge the “trust barrier” that exists with many individuals. Individuals will gravitate to the sources they feel they trust and provides information that is relevant to them. Collecting information is the first step, analyzing the information is the second step, packaging and communicating the information is the third step. And, it seems as if “experiential rating sites” have done a better job packaging and communicating their relevance to the general population than those that use the metrics Health Care prefers.
Maybe Health Care can learn from them.
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