Quality care is missing from most education efforts
Internet provides a wealth of resources
Americans are savvy shoppers. Often when purchasing a big-ticket item, they spend time researching the product to make sure it meets certain quality standards. Yet few use their investigative skills when it comes to the quality of their health care. That’s because the general public does not know how to evaluate quality of care, says Marilyn H. Oermann, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor at the Wayne State University College of Nursing in Detroit.
Oermann and her colleagues have conducted several studies on quality of care and have found that many people do not know there are performance data available. Many consumers believe that hospitals have to be accredited to admit patients, yet they can’t define accreditation and have never heard of the Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations even though it is one of the nation’s oldest and largest accrediting agencies.
Also, they have views about the role of health care that are not always correct. For example, they think their health care provider will remind them when to schedule tests for preventive care.
To help American’s become savvy health care consumers, patient education managers should teach patients how to use the Internet to learn about quality care, says Oermann. In a recent study published in the Joint Commission’s Journal on Quality Improvement, Oermann and her colleagues evaluated Internet documents on quality care. They also looked at the documents’ effectiveness in improving consumer understanding of the quality of health care.1 Post-test scores showed that after reading documents selected by the researchers from five web sites, participants had a better understanding of quality care and important concepts of health care quality. The documents selected for this study include:
- Improving Health Care Quality: A Guide for Patients and Families, published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in Rockville, MD.
- Now You Have a Diagnosis: What’s Next?, published by AHRQ.
- 20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors, published by AHRQ.
- Making Medicare Choices: Medicare Options, published by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) based in Washington, DC.
- In Search of Quality Health Care, published by Consumer Reports in Yonkers, NY.
It is important for patients to know how quality care is measured, how to use quality reports, how to choose providers and hospitals, and how to assess the quality of their own care, says Oermann.
The Internet is a good resource because it does not rely on busy physicians or nurses to teach about quality of care. Staff at clinics with computers in the waiting areas or patient resource centers can bookmark web sites. Patient education managers can distribute lists of such sites as well, says Oermann.
Also, the information can be tailored to the specific needs of patient populations. For example, seniors would be interested in the AARP web page on Medicare choices that includes the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
Learning to use information
Many of the documents on reliable web sites include checklists and guides so that people can easily apply the information, says Oermann. It also is important for people to know why the information is important and how to evaluate it, she says.
Understanding the purpose and value of the information is important as well, says Mark Forstneger, a spokesman for the Joint Commis- sion on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations based in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. It is not enough to know that a facility is accredited. Consumers should look at the evaluation, he adds.
The quality check on the Joint Commission’s web site includes information on an organization’s accreditation status, its accreditation history, its overall evaluation score on its last triannual survey, comparative information on a national basis, and requirements for improvement, if any.
"Consumers should know that accreditation is a voluntary endeavor. Organizations are bringing in an independent, objective, outside group to do a quality audit. We tell the health care organizations what they do well and what they can do better, working with them to help them learn best practices," says Forstneger.
Some of the knowledge evaluated in pre- and post-tests during Oermann’s study, before participants read the information selected from designated web sites and after they had a chance to learn from the documents, included:
- how quality care is measured;
- purposes of accreditation and what it means to consumers;
- frequency of medical errors and what a consumer can do to prevent them;
- how consumers can use report cards;
- how consumers can best use their health plan for care and prevention.
Teaching about quality care will help patients understand the health care system better and how to use it appropriately. Rather than grumbling about not receiving a treatment and leaving the clinic dissatisfied, they will be able to discuss the issue with their physician and learn why the treatment might not be appropriate. "An informed consumer makes a happier consumer because they know what questions to ask and they can get the information up front," says Oermann.
Reference
1. Oermann M, Lesley M, Frances Kuefler S. Using the Internet to Teach Consumers about Quality Care. Journal on Quality Improvement. February 2002;Vol. 28, No. 2.
Sources
For more information about teaching consumers about quality care, contact:
- Mark Forstneger, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, One Renaissance Blvd., Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181. Telephone: (630) 792-5000.
- Marilyn H. Oermann, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor, College of Nursing, Wayne State University, 168 N. Cranbrook Cross, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301-2508. Telephone: (248) 594-6933. Fax: (248) 594-6934. E-mail: [email protected].
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content