A survey said U.S. adults are gaining confidence in the fairness and reliability of healthcare quality assessments.
The Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll said most adults favor the use of patient satisfaction surveys to determine healthcare quality above all other quality measures. More than half of those surveyed said it is also fair to measure healthcare quality based on the use of electronic medical records.
The survey said 87 percent of people were interested in using Web-based consumer ratings tools, suggesting that an initiative to allow consumers to rate their doctors could be highly successful.
"These findings suggest that as quality measurement in health care becomes more readily available to consumers and they become more familiar with these measures that trust in the process will increase," Katherine Binns of Harris Interactive said in a statement. "At the end of the day, however, its feedback from their peers --other patients-- that matters most to consumers."
The online survey of 2,015 U.S. adults was conducted last month for the Wall Street Journal Online's Health Industry Edition.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
Related stories:
Poor and uninsured patients more likely to experience racial discrimination
A new study in
Health Services Research tried to disentangle the impact of a patient's racial and ethnic background, being poor and having no health insurance on the likelihood they would report having experienced racial or ethnic bias in the healthcare they received.
HIV screening found cost-effective in older adults
Recent studies suggest that large numbers of Americans remain sexually active well into their 60's, 70's and even 80's. But researchers at Duke University Medical Center say seniors may be overlooked as possible carriers of the AIDS virus, and based on a new study, they are recommending screening for most adults ages 55 to75 as a sensible, cost-effective way to prolong life and decrease the spread of the disease.
Common bowel problem linked to chili pepper pain receptor
People with irritable bowel syndrome have a higher than usual number of chilli pepper pain receptors, according to a new study published tomorrow (Wednesday 11 June).
Is there a developmental component to the risk for depression?
Psychiatrists remain divided as to how to define and classify the mood and anxiety disorders, the most common mental disorders. Committees across the globe are currently pondering how best to carve nature at its anxious joints for the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), the “gold standard” reference book for psychiatrists. Only recently has the process of refining the diagnostic system been informed by high quality longitudinal data. An important new study of this type was published in the December 1st issue of
Biological Psychiatry.
Babies learn to ride robots at UD
Babies driving robots. It sounds like the theme of a cartoon series but it is actually the focus of important and innovative research being conducted at the University of Delaware that could have significant repercussions for the cognitive development of infants with special needs.
Quality of life study examines burden of epilepsy
A new study published in Epilepsia is the first to assess the prevalence of self-reported active epilepsy and health-related quality of life among adults with epilepsy in California.
Better mobility keeps seniors healthier
As people lose the ability to walk unaided, they tend to suffer further deterioration that can interfere with other daily living activities. As the U.S. population ages, it becomes increasingly important to identify and target interventions for those people who are at risk for further disabilities and illness.
New study finds that treating insomnia is far less costly than ignoring it
Insomniacs are advised to get early treatment for their sleep disorder not only so they can start feeling better faster, but it can also save them and their employers money in the long run. A study published in the March 1st issue of the journal
Sleep finds that, as opposed to treating insomnia, failure to treat it is much more costly.