Consumer health care information: Many quality commission disclosure recommendations are not current practice : report to Congressional requesters

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry's recommendations for improving information disclosure, focusing on the: (1) Commission's recommendations regarding information to be provided to consumers and comparing them with the information currently provided to employees of large public and private health care purchasers; (2) available evidence from purchasers and researchers concerning the extent to which consumers are able to make use of this information; and (3) potential cost of bridging any existing information disclosure gap between the Commission's recommendations and existing purchaser practices.