Understandability and Interpretability for Patients and the Interested Public

If a quality indicator is to be used in public reporting, understandability is an essential criterion. Only quality indicators that are understandable can contribute to a justified decision of patients and their families.

It is self-evident that representatives of patient groups or the public must be included decisively in the assessment.

The assessment result does not depend only on the quality indicator, but also on further information made available to the public, which can facilitate the understanding of quality indicators. Having rationales and interpretation aids available for the outcomes that are understandable by lay people (e.g. “what does the outcome mean in regard to my decision for or against a certain provider?”) can contribute substantially to it.

In the literature, no distinction is made between understandability for patients and the interested public on the one hand and physicians and nurses on the other hand. In general, all users are considered.

Definition
The results of the quality indicator can be understood and interpreted by patients and the interested public.

Core Statement
The following statement is assessed: “The results of the quality indicator can be understood and interpreted by patients and the interested public.”

Information Base for the Assessment
For the assessment of the core statement, the available aids to understanding are considered, such as the rationale, explanations of reference ranges and the interpretation aids for the outcomes. Furthermore, inquiries by the target audience, regarding the understandability, can be considered.

Assessment Process
After all evaluators have acknowledged and understood the information base, they assess the core statement.

A detailed process description can be found in Appendix 1.

Assessment Stages
1 = does not apply
2 = rather does not apply
3 = rather applies
4 = applies
Abstention