Through the looking glass

Transparency in healthcare matters, but to date has failed to live up to its promise of transforming quality and cost. Too often progress has been symbolic and has given rise to bitter disputes between political ideologues and resistant provider and professional groups. Even countries that have led the field are now facing difficult questions about what value is really created for all their effort. Awash with data, some systems are finding it more difficult than ever to work out what is going but used strategically, this study suggests there is considerable potential waiting to be unlocked from health system transparency.