Dec. 14, 1998

Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 paustin@oregon.uoregon.edu

EUGENE–Most Americans find it difficult to sort through the complex and detailed information provided to them about health care plans so they can make an informed choice, according to University of Oregon researcher Judith Hibbard.

Now new information comparing the quality of care offered by different health care plans is beginning to be available. Hibbard says that while that new information should help consumers, it also is likely to overwhelm them.

Hibbard, a UO professor of planning, public policy and management, hopes her new research project will help consumers use this newly emerging information. Hibbard’s project will use controlled lab studies to look at new ways to present health care information. The findings will help health care watchdog groups provide consumers with more readily understood comparisons about the performance of health care plans.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a national philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, is supporting the research project through a $476,862 grant.

"Health care providers routinely send their clients too much information, and the material is often confusing," Hibbard says. "When people have too much information, they often take short cuts by focusing on just one or two factors–how much the plan costs, for example, or what benefits are provided."

Those shortcuts, Hibbard says, can lead to bad choices. If they are to make informed decisions, consumers need to be able to compare a whole range of variables, from costs and benefits to the quality of the care being provided, she explains.

The project report will be shared with the groups that put out national and regional care report cards. Hibbard will be working with Paul Slovic, a UO professor of psychology and president of Decision Research, a private research organization. They will complete the two-year study by Dec. 30, 2000.

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