Grading the Report Card: Lessons from Cognitive Psychology, Marketing, and the Law of Information Disclosure for Quality Assessment in Health Care Reform

Abstract

This Note examines the emergence of consumer-directed information disclosure proposals in the health care reform debate. By drawing on the literatures of cognitive psychology, marketing, and existing statutory information disclosure, the author discusses the drawbacks of relying on health care report cards as a quality assurance system. The author concludes that report cards cannot currently assure quality, given limitations in the state of the art of quality measurement and an inadequate understanding of how consumers would process disclosed information.