FRIDAY, Jan. 21, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- Increasingly popular "doctor report cards" don't always provide clear-cut information when comparing quality of care, according to new research from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The study, published in the January issue of The American Journal of Managed Care, compared the usefulness of quality indicators -- such as patient satisfaction or use of correct medications -- for asthma specialists.
Study senior author Dr. Albert W. Wu, an associate professor in the department of health policy and management at Bloomberg, said in a prepared statement that there are a number of difficulties when it comes to grading doctors.
"If all physicians receive the equivalent of an 'A' on a certain indicator, that does not help distinguish between the doctors. For some indicators, it can also be difficult to obtain reliable data from patients. And finally, surveying a doctor who doesn't treat enough patients won't give you an accurate picture of how the physician is performing," Wu said.
He and his colleagues analyzed surveys completed by 2,515 asthma patients at 20 California physician groups. The patients rated the doctors on six quality indicators.
The researchers concluded the patients were able to give reliable answers about the indicators. However, having a sufficient number of patients was crucial to obtaining useful results.
The authors noted that not all quality indicators are equal.
"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," Wu said.
"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," he noted.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has advice about choosing a doctor.
