Abstracts by keywords: Public reporting
In 2016, the Bertelsmann Foundation published a representative study in which 91 percent of those surveyed were in favor of medical practices, hospitals and care facilities being required by law to clearly disclose their quality (Bertelsmann Foundation, 2016). This clear result shows that citizens demand accountability from healthcare providers about the quality of their work, regardless of what other possible positive effects may come with quality transparency. These effects are diverse and work on different levels (see Fig. 1). The publication of quality data is intended to stimulate quality competition by directly motivating service providers to improve quality - on their own professional initiative and/or based on mutual observation. This is not only shown by international studies (Kumpunen, Trigg & Rodrigues, 2014); The publication of quality reports by hospitals, which has been legally required since 2005 (Section 136b Paragraph 1 No. 3 SGB V), has also led to improvements in many of the published indicators (IQTIG, 2019). But transparency also ensures that patients are supported in their choices. Furthermore, performance and quality data can be used as a basis for the control and planning of provider structures in the healthcare system. However, this is not actually happening yet.