Effective presentation of health care performance information for consumer decision making: A systematic review

•We synthesize evidence regarding effective health care performance reporting.•Findings demonstrate that less complex formats enhance consumer decision making.•Simplification can be achieved by limiting alternatives and using plain language.•Situating results in common contexts and familiar paradigms is also beneficial.•Evaluative elements - which are interpretive aids - can facilitate decision making.

ObjectiveThis systematic review synthesizes what is known about the effective presentation of health care performance information for consumer decision making.MethodsSix databases were searched for articles published in English between September 2003 and April 2014. Experimental studies comparing consumers' responses to performance information when one or more presentation feature was altered were included. A thematic analysis was performed and practical guidelines derived.ResultsAll 31 articles retained, the majority which tested responses to various presentations of health care cost and/or quality information, found that consumers better understand and make more informed choices when the information display is less complex. Simplification can be achieved by reducing the quantity of choices, displaying results in a positive direction, using non-technical language and evaluative elements, and situating results in common contexts.ConclusionWhile findings do not offer a prescriptive design, this synthesis informs approaches to enhancing the presentation of health care performance information and areas that merit additional research.Practice implicationsGuidelines derived from these results can be used to enhance health care performance reports for consumer decision making including using recognizable, evaluative graphics and customizable formats, limiting the amount of information presented, and testing presentation formats prior to use.