PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

Rating physician quality

Quick View. May 7, 2007.

Ratings of doctors' performance on quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction measures aren't always accurate.

Experts estimate that there is at least 5% inaccuracy in these performance measures. And the ratings do not inform patients of these potential errors in the metrics.

While physicians may be bothered by this, patients generally aren't, says Matthew Davis, MD, senior health researcher at the Center for Studying Health System Change. A recent survey of 1,057 adults showed general tolerance, even when survey respondents were told, for example, that a 20% inaccuracy would misclassify 20 of every 100 doctors in a high-performing/low-performing physician rating system. Here are the percentages of patients who said they were willing to accept data with these inaccuracies.

This information and the accompanying full-text visual aids were drawn from the following source:

"Consumer Tolerance for Inaccuracy in Physician Performance Ratings: One Size Fits None," Issue Brief No. 110, March, Center for Studying Health System Change.

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