"Roll-up" measures of health care quality are meant to simplify and summarize ratings, but methods for generating and reporting them vary substantially, and little is known about whether their meaning is sufficiently clear to consumers.

Using "Roll-up" Measures in Healthcare Quality Reports

Perspectives of Report Sponsors and National Alliances

Jennifer L. Cerully, Steven C. Martino, Melissa L. Finucane, Rachel Grob, Andrew M. Parker, Mark Schlesinger, Dale Shaller, Grant R. Martsolf

ResearchPosted on rand.org Jul 14, 2017Published in: The American Journal of Managed Care, Volume 23, No. 6, pages e202-e207

Objectives

To understand the views of prominent organizations in the field of healthcare quality on the topic of reporting roll-up measures that combine indicators of multiple, often disparate, dimensions of care to consumers.

Study Design

This study used a semi-structured, qualitative interview design.

Methods

We conducted 30- to 60-minute semi-structured telephone interviews with representatives of 10 organizations that sponsor public healthcare quality reports and 3 national alliances representing multiple stakeholder groups. We conducted a thematic analysis of interview transcriptions to identify common issues and concerns related to reporting roll-up measures.

Results

Among sponsors reporting roll-up measures, current practices for calculating and reporting these measures are diverse. The main perceived benefit of reporting roll-up measures is that they simplify large amounts of complex information for consumers. The main concern is the potential for consumers to misunderstand the measures and what associated roll-up scores communicate about provider performance. Report sponsors and national alliances feel that more guidance and research on the methods for producing and reporting scores for roll-up measures are needed.

Conclusions

The results of the interviews elucidate the need for research focused on construction and reporting of roll-up measures. Studies are needed to determine if roll-up measures are indeed perceived by consumers as being less complex and easier to understand.

Key Findings

  • Report sponsors' practices for calculating and reporting these measures are diverse.
  • Report sponsors and national alliances representing stakeholder groups affected by quality reporting feel that roll-up measures simplify large amounts of complex information for consumers, but consumers may misunderstand the aspects of quality captured by roll-up measures and what they communicate.
  • Report sponsors and national alliances report needing more guidance and research on how to produce and report scores for roll-up measures.

Recommendations

  • The findings in this manuscript point to the need for a research agenda focused on developing standards for the construction, calculation, and reporting of roll-up measures that are rooted in empirical data on how constructs assessed by various performance measures relate to each other and desired health outcomes.
  • The findings also highlight the need for building the body of published research on consumer use of and responses to roll-up measures.
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Document Details

  • Copyright: Clinical Care Targeted Communications Group
  • Publisher: Michael J. Hennessy Associates
  • Availability: Non-RAND
  • Year: 2017
  • Pages: 6
  • Document Number: EP-67225

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