Getting Quality Care
The Institute of Medicine says that quality care means treatment that is:
- Safe. Treatment helps patients and does not cause harm.
- Effective. Research shows that treatments have positive results.
- Patient-centered. Health care providers (doctors, nurses, and others) treat all patients with respect.
- Timely. Patients get the care they need at a time when it will do the most good.
- Efficient. Treatment does not waste doctors' or patients' money or time.
- Equitable. Everyone is entitled to high quality health care. This includes men and women of all cultures, income, level of education, and social status.
It is important to look at the quality of the health care that you receive because the quality of the care you receive can be different depending on the doctor's office you go to. Measuring health care quality:
- Helps patients understand what quality health care is, and how to talk to their doctor about the quality of care they receive.
- Helps doctors' offices see how they can make the care they give better, and to see how they are doing compared to other doctor's offices in the state.
Because the quality of care can vary from one doctors' office to another, this website was designed to help you compare primary care doctors' offices based on nationally developed standards of care that show you how well doctors' offices in your area and across the state care for their patients. Using this information, you will be able to compare and choose a primary care provider based on the standards that are most important to you.