17 Dec Public Disclosure of Antibiotic Prescription Rates Decreased Usage

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dong Wook Shin, MD, MBA, DrPH
Assistant Professor, Center for Health Promotion/Dept.of Family Medicine
Seoul National University Hospital

Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: In South Korea, the National Health Insurance provides universal coverage and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) oversees claims reviews. HIRA has reported the rates of antibiotic prescriptions for upper respiratory tract infections in each clinic via web site since 2006. We assessed the effect of public disclosure.

The main findings are that decreases of antibiotic uses were observed since the public disclosure of the prescription rates regardless of hospital level.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Response: Our study is more meaningful for policy makers and researchers. This is a good example that disclosure of providers’ performance data can improve the quality of care at a relatively low cost.

Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: We recommend a future research regarding the mechanism, how the public disclosure can lead to improved quality. It will be helpful to design more effective interventions of this kind.

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Last Updated on November 4, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD