Experts question whether patients will use performance data to choose their care

Expectations are high that the public will use performance data to choose their health providers and so drive improvements in quality. But in a paper published on bmj.com, two experts question whether this is realistic.

They think patient choice is not at present a strong lever for change, and suggest ways in which currently available information can be improved to optimise its effect.

Research conducted over the past 20 years in several countries provides little support for the belief that most patients behave in a consumerist fashion as far as their health is concerned, say Martin Marshall and Vin McLoughlin from The Health Foundation.

Although patients are clear that they want information to be made publicly available, they rarely search for it, often do not understand or trust it, and are unlikely to use it in a rational way to choose the best provider, they write.

They suspect that these problems are not just due to inadequate data, but may be the result of “unrealistic expectations” and “inappropriate assumptions” by advocates of public disclosure where health decisions are concerned.

They argue that the public “has a clear right to know how well their health system is working, irrespective of whether they want to use the information.”