As a group, physicians and other clinicians are highly motivated to ensure patients receive the best care possible. Despite the best intentions of all involved, unintended variations in care are common, resulting in suboptimal outcomes for some patients.
An extensive body of research clearly shows that feedback reporting to physicians can lead to significant improvements in quality of care, especially if careful attention is paid to the way the feedback is designed and delivered. Faced with a need to implement quality improvement programs now, and spurred on by the motivation to increase accountability and transparency, a variety of health sector stakeholders are implementing feedback reporting initiatives. These include medical groups, health plans, payers, professional societies, regional collaboratives, and dissemination and implementation campaigns.
To ensure the best possible return on this investment, it is necessary to consider how to convert “data” into a report with salient and actionable information. This guide attempts to distill what is known regarding evidence-based best practices for developing and implementing feedback reporting. It also suggests a framework for future research priorities that will advance our collective knowledge on optimizing feedback reporting as a strategy to change clinician behavior and improve care.
