One of the most powerful forces driving improvement in health care is the educated consumer. Consumers who make informed choices and are engaged in their own care not only experience better health outcomes, they also help reward doctors, hospitals and health plans that deliver better care and service. To that end, NCQA makes most of the information it collects available free of charge to the media and directly to consumers via the Web.

NCQA leverages a broad array of products and partnerships to communicate with consumers. One of the most notable is a partnership with U.S. News & World Report to bring more than 10 million readers a listing of "America's Best Health Plans."

NCQA has also developed a number of Web tools to give consumers information they need to make informed choices. Notable among them is the Health Plan Report Card, which features a searchable database detailing health plans' Accreditation and performance ratings. An online directory of physicians who have earned Recognition is also available. The Quality Dividend Calculator estimates the increased productivity and reduction in sick days that result from choosing a high-performance health plan.

A more comprehensive set of health plan performance data is available through NCQA’s Quality Compass® and data license products. With access to trended data including plan-specific HEDIS rates as well as regional and national averages, Quality Compass users can track and guide quality improvement, analyze plan performance from year to year, gain health plan market and competitor insights, and create custom reports and market analyses. NCQA’s data-license products offer the ability to create and repackage custom reports for employers or consumers.