The availability of public reporting initiatives on the quality of health and longterm care providers has increased since the 1990s when many countries began introducing choice of care provider policies. One of the primary reasons for public reporting of quality information is to assist patients and users, and other purchasers of care, in making informed and rational choices regarding care providers. However, despite the extensive investment, take-up of choice and use of quality information to inform decisions by users and patients has been slow to materialize. This can be linked to a range of barriers, including a lack of user-friendly quality information. Public reporting of quality information often has other aims. These include encouraging providers to improve the quality of their services, increasing provider accountability, identifying failures, and providing the public with reassurance over quality of care. However, this policy summary focuses on its use as a mechanism to facilitate choice of provider by consumers or other purchasers of care.