Newswise — The Center for Advancing Health (CFAH) today released findings from the "Getting Tools Used" research project, an initiative to assist healthcare groups develop better and more popular decision aids. By examining four widely used consumer guides: Consumer Reports: Car Buying Guide; eBay; U.S. News & World Report: America's Best Colleges, and the FDA's federally mandated Nutrition Facts Panels (NFP), CFAH has identified six essential elements that have made these tools successful and that can be applied to health care. Groups can use the results of the Getting Tools Used research to improve their approaches to developing, marketing and promoting tools that help consumers make informed decisions.
"It's puzzling that we take so little interest in healthcare decision tools," said Jessie Gruman, PhD, president of the Center for Advancing Health. "What gives? Study after study shows that although we're comfortable using tools that allow us to comparison shop for products like weed-whackers and services like pest control, we appear to have little interest in using them to find the best healthcare providers and services. That's why we did this research. We need to know why report cards and other tools aren't a normal part of our effort to find safe, decent healthcare."
How the Research Was Conducted
The Getting Tools Used project modeled its research on a framework developed by experts at RAND Corporation, to examine the four decision support tools and extract the applicable lessons for healthcare. In the first phase of the research, CFAH collected insights from top industry leaders, research studies, and other findings in trade publications to produce case studies. In the second phase of the project, a panel of five leaders with expertise in the development and dissemination of healthcare decision aids examined the four case studies. They created commentaries with their analyses of success factors for the cases and lessons that developers and marketers of healthcare-related tools can apply to attain widespread use. In the final phase, CFAH gathered a select group of healthcare stakeholders to review the case studies and commentaries and build consensus for the implications for healthcare. The Getting Tools Used research initiative was funded by CFAH, the California Healthcare Foundation, the Changes in Healthcare Financing & Organization (HCFO), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making. What the Research Revealed
A comparison of the successful decision support tools proved that all four were able to deliver the right tool at the right time to the right audience. In order to do so the tool, the tool's sponsor, and its audience possessed distinct characteristics:
Tool: The tool was free or available at a minimal charge, and its content was easy to understand, or its design and function was audience responsive.
Tool's sponsor: The tools' sponsors had strong brand identity and significant market penetration. Audience: All four tools were developed for audiences with a clear need for comparative information. The research also revealed that eBay, Consumer Reports: Car Buying Guide, the Food and Drug Administration's Nutrition Facts Panels, and U.S. News & World Report: America's Best Colleges became trusted sources for consumers over time because their business models were sustainable--thus reliable--and have allowed or required them to invest in the evolution of their tools and information. Tools have evolved toward being more customizable for the consumer, and better aligned with the areas for which consumers can exercise true choice. Lessons for Healthcare
Based on the research, CFAH has identified the six essential elements of successful consumer decision support tools that can be applied to healthcare:
1. Healthcare decision support tools must be sponsored by a trustworthy source: As in the case of Consumer Reports, Consumer's Union does all of their own testing, and does not accept money from interest groups whose interests might conflict with those of the consumer. GTU research shows, consumers do not don't trust rankings produced by those being ranked. They do want rankings from people with expertise who have no conflicts of interest. "When my husband was diagnosed with stomach cancer, I immediately searched the Web for information about the best doctors, the best hospitals and the best treatment options," said Michele Williams of Mitchellville, Md. "My Web search led me to testimonials on the hospitals' own Web sites. Was that who I was supposed to trust?" 2. They must be created with a sustainable business model that allows the sponsor to reinvest in the tool, and improve it: Many tools including hospital and physician report cards are created at a local level by local or regional organizations that lack the financial capacity to maintain the tool overtime, update information, or reinvest in its evolution. U.S. News & World Report: America's Best Colleges has evolved over time so that the online tool is customizable, considering the user's unique values in the college ranking process. 3. Healthcare support tools must meet a ready audience: Tools must meet the needs of consumers where they are. "We've been creating tools that tell people what they should be asking," said Shoshanna Sofaer, Dr.P.H, professor of Health Care Policy at the School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, and one of the researchers who contributed to the Getting Tools Used Research. "But if we develop tools that answer the questions they already want to know first, as in the case of Consumer Reports: Car Buying Guide, we can use gain their trust and their interest, and then point out, in editorial content, the things people need to pay more attention to and myths they need to get over."
4. Sponsors must create strong brand identity: To create a brand, the tool's sponsor must invest the upfront capital to launch a branding campaign. Sponsors should consider using viral media and social networking sites. Branding must reinforce the sponsor as a credible and trusted source. 5. Tools must provide information that is otherwise unavailable to the consumer: Patients don't have the ability to aggregate claims data or to analyze physician outcomes. Patients need usable, comparative information around the areas for which they may exercise real choice. The information must also be arrayed in a way that's easy for patients to understand.
6. The success of healthcare decision support tools depends on strategic timing: "Tools being accessible when they are needed is as important as the tools themselves." said Maulik Joshi, Dr.P.H. and President of the American Hospital Association's Health Research & Educational Trust. Research showed that industry may need to invest in a public awareness campaign to cultivate a ready market for healthcare decision support tools.
For more information about the Getting Tools Used Research, the reviewers and the implications for the research on health care, visit www.cfah.org. About the Center for Advancing Health (CFAH)
The Center for Advancing Health (CFAH) is committed to creating an America where everyone is prepared to live a healthy life and make good choices about health and health care. Since 1992, CFAH has worked to translate complex scientific evidence into information, policies and programs that will ensure that each person can make good decisions about their health and interact effectively with their health care providers. CFAH is an independent non-profit organization that is supported by a number of foundations (principally the Annenberg Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation) and individuals. For additional information visit: www.cfah.org.
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