Money talks: Health report cards do not improve patient care

Filed in archive Studies on July 19, 2005

A recent study in JAMA suggests that "health report cards" do not improve patient care:

To see if these report cards are effective, Dr. Louise Pilote, from McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, and her team randomly assigned 76 hospitals in Quebec to get immediate feedback on their care of heart attack patients, or to get feedback after 14 months. Each hospital group accounted for more than 3,000 heart attack patients.

Pilote's team found there was no difference in the care given by either group of hospitals. For example, the rate of drugs prescribed for lowering blood pressure and reducing cholesterol was similar in both groups, as was the rate of prescriptions for aspirin.

Moreover, the rates of death, the length of hospital stay, the number of doctor visits after discharge and the waiting times for cardiac procedures and the rate of rehospitalization for heart problems was similar in both groups, the researchers reported.

What can motivate doctors and hospitals to do better? The answer is simple - money:

But hospitals need to invest in measuring the ways they deliver care, Peterson said. The incentive now is money. Pay-for-performance "will engage physicians and hospital administrators all over America like never before," he said.

(Reinberg, "Hospital Report Cards Don't Improve Heart-Patient Care", Forbes, Jul.19)