Doctor report cards not always clear when comparing quali...( and organizations engaged in physician...),Health

and organizations engaged in physician profiling for asthma or other diseases," said I-Chan Huang, PhD, the first author of the study and postdoctoral fellow in the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Department of Health Policy and Management. "Variability in quality indicators is a desirable attribute for performance measures. In addition, our results suggest that the reliability of profiling indicators is also an important consideration."

According to the study authors, not all quality indicators are equal. Indicators should be something that varies doctor-to-doctor and they also need to be measurable, but without much error.

"As doctor report cards become more popular across the country, patients should know that quality of care does vary, but there are clear-cut indicators that can help them determine which doctor to go to. Our research found that, for asthma patients, the following may be useful indicators to help them select among different doctors: asthma self-management knowledge, use of inhaled steroids, satisfaction with asthma care and self-reported improvement in health status," said Dr. Wu, who also holds an appointment at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

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Contact: Kenna L. Lowe
paffairs@jhsph.edu
410-955-6878
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
18-Jan-2005

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