JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Healthcare public reporting involves making information about the quality and performance of healthcare providers available to the public; however, however, most individuals (non-healthcare professionals) are only at the stage of being aware of public reporting information, rather than adopting or acting on it.

Objective:

This article conducts a systematic review of individuals’ interaction with public reporting systems to explore how people adopt and engage with such information.

Methods:

A literature search was conducted on five electronic databases: Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and IEEE Xplore.

Results:

This review includes findings from a total of 44 empirical articles. Our research shows that existing studies on information presentation and patient groups mainly focus on visual dashboards and patient activation. Based on the interaction between systems and individuals, we analyzed the reviewed research topics and identified four key themes of information presentation: data visualization, star ratings, dashboards, and narrative comments. In the process, we identified five themes related to the process: decision-making, timing, communication, personalized care, and family communication. Research finds that information presentation and visualization tools can optimize the usage of public reporting systems from the individual level, helping to fill the gap between system usage and population segmentation.

Conclusions:

This systematic literature review examines information presentation in health public reporting, analyzing both its presentation formats and population segmentation. By exploring the interaction between public reporting systems and demographic subgroups, this study provides valuable insights into optimizing the usage of public reporting information. The main contributions of this work are as follows: (1) reducing the complexity of public reporting by offering structure and clarity; (2) identifying how overlapping identities influence the use of public reporting information; and (3) reducing the complexity of shared decision-making between patients and providers by offering accessible channels and sources for patients to understand medical information.