Public reporting on quality and performance in Canada’s healthcare system has grown significantly over the last 20 years. This growth has been driven by increased commitment within the system to improve quality, citizens’ heightened expectation for accountability and better data for measuring performance.

While there’s no consensus in healthcare literature on the value or impact of reporting, there is general agreement that reporting is here to stay. The debate is shifting from whether reporting should be done, to how best to report publicly on health system quality. In this project, evidence about promising practices for effective public reporting on healthcare quality is discussed.  

This research report was funded by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and the Ontario Health Quality Council.