消費者使用品質報告卡之探討－以美國經驗為例

Report cards have been adopted by the US health care system for more than 10 years. The publication of report cards is intended to inform consumers' choice on providers and to improve quality of medical care delivered by providers. Therefore, the performance of report cards can be evaluated by the level of use of report cards by consumers. The performance of report cards is still controversial. As to quality indicators of report cards, consumers generally considered patient satisfaction as one of the important indicators. The barriers to using report cards include indicators not needed by consumers, lack of standardized measurement, etc. The organizations issuing report cards that consumers trust most are state governments and non-profit consumer organizations. It is imperative to assure the quality of medical care under the large-scale implementation of global budgets in Taiwan. The purpose of this article is to introduce consumers' experience with the use of report cards in the US. This can help in developing the most appropriate methods of quality assurance in Taiwan.