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Informing Consumers About Health Care
Quality: New Directions for Research and Action
Overview Increasingly, advocacy organizations, employers, purchasing coalitions, Federal agencies, States, and others are providing information on health care quality to help people make informed choices about their care. While these efforts continue to multiply, many important challenges and questions remain about how to motivate consumers effectively to use information on quality and how to improve the content, presentation, distribution, and evaluation of the information that is communicated. This conference is designed to provide a collaborative forum for discussing the challenges and opportunities we face in improving the communication of health care quality information to consumers. The framework for this discussion will be the Research and Action Agenda, developed over the past year by the Federally sponsored Work Group on Consumer Health Information. This document proposes an overall strategic framework to guide needed research and action in the evolving field of consumer health information. Objectives The goal of the conference is to identify specific strategies for implementing research and action priorities in four consumer sectors:
Organization Commissioned background papers related to each of the sectors, along with the overall Research and Action Agenda, will be available in advance of the conference. These papers will outline the challenges and opportunities for implementing the Research and Action Agenda in each of the four sectors, and will set the context for discussion in a series of break-out sessions led by the authors. Each break-out session will include a panel of consumer, sponsor, and health plan or provider representatives to help stimulate dialogue and ground the discussion in practical terms. On the second day of the conference, a plenary session will bring together the break-out session leaders to report on the issues and recommendations discussed in their respective sessions, and to engage all conference participants in an open, facilitated discussion of priorities and next steps. To establish a context for understanding current consumer attitudes and views on health care quality issues, an opening session of the conference will present the findings of a soon-to-be-released national consumer poll conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and AHRQ. This poll updates the results of a similar, widely cited poll conducted in 1996. Also featured is a demonstration of the Talking Quality Web site, developed by the Work Group on Consumer Health Information as a comprehensive Web resource for sponsors of quality information projects. The Web site is an effort to compile and organize what we currently know about quality reporting, with extensive references to state-of-the art practices, recent research, and related resources. Who Should Attend? The conference is intended for people with a variety of interests and viewpoints on quality-of-care information, who can contribute to and benefit from a wide-ranging discussion about the key research and implementation issues in this area, including: consumer groups; information compilers and disseminators; health plans and provider organizations; health care purchasers; research organizations; and foundations. *Registration The conference fee of $150.00 per person includes all conference materials and selected meals (two continental breakfasts, two lunches, and a reception). Registration will be limited to approximately 200 individuals. You may register online or by telephone. You can register online by clicking here or print a registration form for mailing by clicking here. You may also register by calling Martell Kelly at (202) 828-5100. Registrations must be submitted with full payment. Written confirmation will be sent to you once payment is received. The conference fee is not refundable, but substitution of one attendee for another is permitted. Sponsors This conference is sponsored by the Work Group on Consumer Health Information, through support from the California HealthCare Foundation, AHRQ, CDC, HCFA, and the U.S. OPM. The Federal agencies are part of the Quality Interagency Coordination Task Force (QuIC), a collaboration to foster quality improvement in Federal health care programs. The mission of the California HealthCare Foundation, established in 1996, is to expand access to affordable quality health care services for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of the people of California. The conference is facilitated by the Quality Measurement Advisory Service (QMAS) and Westat, Inc. |