title: Can a book of charts catalyze improvements in quality? Views of a healthcare alchemist.
abstract: This commentary reviews international evidence about the impact of public reporting on better care and outcomes, outlines conditions under which publicly available performance information can become a potent catalyst to precipitate improvements in quality and the optimal conditions in healthcare systems to ensure that such a catalyst results in a desirable reaction.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Health Information, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Diane E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*