Report: Consumers in dark on physician quality data

Independent and objective data on physician performance are only available for 15 percent of doctors in the U.S., according to a recent report from the non-profit Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3).

In its state report card on transparency of physician quality information, only Minnesota and Washington received an A. Maine and California each received a B, while Massachusetts and Wisconsin both earned a C. The rest didn’t perform so well; Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon received Ds while the remaining 40 states, plus the District of Columbia, all received failing marks, according to the report.

“Consumers are flying blind when it comes to selecting hospitals and physicians, and the overall quality and affordability of American healthcare won’t be improved until we find a way to solve this problem,” said Francois de Brantes, HCI3 executive director, in a statement. “While the 2014 report shows an improvement in grades in a few states, overall the lack of information to make informed choices is disappointing.”

Read the report.