Public reporting drove quality gains at nursing homes.

Public reporting of the quality of care delivered in hospitals and nursing homes is thought to foster improvements in care. When information is available, consumers may choose high-quality providers. That choice, in turn, may stimulate providers to improve quality as a way to attract a larger share of the market. However, these assumptions have gone largely untested. We examined short-stay care provided at 8,137 nursing homes after the Nursing Home Compare public reporting requirements went into effect in 2002. We found that quality improved both because consumers chose higher-quality nursing homes and because providers improved the care they delivered. These findings support the continued use of public reporting to improve quality.