Choosing Providers for Select Services and Procedures: Consumers' Experiences and Preferences

The New York Academy of Medicine describes findings from interviews with 30 NYS healthcare consumers who used services traditionally seen as “shoppable.” The report provides insight into patients’ experiences while searching for provider information before seeking care, as well as their views on the most valuable cost and quality information used for decision-making. The final report was released in March 2019.

Perspectives on Health Care Decision-Making, Quality Cost and Access to Information

The New York Academy of Medicine conducted several focus groups with consumers of health care services. The focus groups focused on how consumers look for and use available data on price and quality to help them make decisions about their health care. The final report was released in April 2016.

New York's All-Payer Database: A New Lens for Consumer Transparency

The New York's All-Payer Database: A New Lens for Consumer Transparency report, sponsored by the NYS Health Foundation and conducted by the national APCD Council, was completed in September 2015. Using targeted stakeholder interviews and research about state APCDs, the study provided an analysis of the opportunities, challenges, and barriers that are specific to New York State’s goals of building an APD. The report provided recommendations for ensuring a quality system that achieves NY’s goals and meets stakeholder needs and expectations.

NYSDOH Hospital Quality Rating Stakeholder Workgroup: Final Recommendations

In 2019, the New York State Department of Health Office of Quality and Patient Safety and the United Hospital Fund conducted a series of stakeholder meetings with consumer advocacy groups, providers, payers, and professional and trade organizations. The goal of the Hospital Quality Stakeholder Workgroup was to make recommendations for designing hospital profiles that would help New Yorkers make informed decisions about their healthcare, and to provide input on quality information that could inform New Yorkers’ choices about where to seek hospital care. This United Hospital Fund report, released in January 2020, describes the workgroup’s recommendations.

NYSDOH Primary Care Quality Rating Stakeholder Workgroup: Final Recommendations

In 2019, the New York State Department of Health Office of Quality and Patient Safety and the United Hospital Fund conducted a series of stakeholder meetings with consumer advocacy groups, providers, payers, and professional and trade organizations. The goal of the Primary Care Quality Rating Stakeholder Workgroup was to make recommendations for designing provider profiles that would help New Yorkers make informed decisions about their healthcare, to provide input on the types of quality information that would be relevant to consumers, and to recommend strategies for improving publicly-available performance information. This United Hospital Fund report, released in January 2020, describes the workgroup’s recommendations.

NYSDOH Price Methodology Workgroup: Final Recommendations

As part of recent state and federal efforts to promote greater health care price transparency, New York State Governor Cuomo’s 2020 State of the State agenda included a proposal to increase transparency in health care costs and quality in New York State. From August 2020 through February 2021, the New York State Department of Health Office of Quality and Patient Safety and the United Hospital Fund conducted a series of stakeholder meetings with consumer advocacy groups, providers, payers, professional and trade organizations, foundations, nonprofits, and consulting organizations. The primary goal of the workgroup was to advise on the guiding principles and considerations that should be taken into account when developing a methodology to provide transparent health care pricing information to consumers. Additionally, the workgroup considered various approaches for calculating health care prices and how to describe variation. The workgroup also identified resources to help consumers plan for common reasons they may need to use the health care system, and described areas where there are gaps in resources or available information. This United Hospital Fund report, released in April 2021, describes the workgroup’s recommendations.