Exploring the applicable quality indictors on hospital report cards in Taiwan

Objectives: The purposes of this study are to explore the appropriate organization to initiate hospital report cards and to understand hospitals' willingness to use report cards and publishable quality indicators. Methods: The study used 495 hospitals including medical centers, regional hospitals, teaching district hospitals, and district hospitals as the study sample. A mailing survey was performed to collect applicable data. Results: There were 183 questionnaires returned. This equaled a response rate of 37%. The response rate for medical centers, regional hospitals, and district teaching hospitals was as high as 68.75%. However, the response rate for district hospitals was only 25.9%. Among the sampled hospitals, 57.7% chose the Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation as the most appropriate organization to initiate hospital report cards. Over 50% of hospitals are willing to publish 10 quality indicators including physician specialty and practice experience, average length of stay, and patient satisfaction. Conclusions: In total, 52% of the sampled hospitals are willing to publish performance information. It is recommended that policy makers consider initiating hospital report cards. The report cards could help hospitals improve quality of services in order to protect consumers' rights and enhance the efficiency of the health market.