Table 1 Glossary of terms

Visual display

An information visualization [8] such as a chart or table that relates types of information in two-dimensional space

Line chart, table with “traffic light” or red and green indicators, histogram

Content element

Representation of a concept or real entity that is attributed to a visual element of a display

Representation of a hospital, low performance, or a time interval;

Internal representation [8]

Content type

A set of content elements that represent the same kind of concept or real entity

Measures, ascribees, performance levels, time intervals

Performance summary

Information about sums, averages, or rates accomplished in a specified time interval

A hospital’s annual readmission rate for 2019, a physician’s average patient satisfaction scores in the last 6 months

Performance summary display (PSD)

A visualization that relates performance levels to other types of information

A bar chart showing a clinic’s monthly patient experience scores over the last 12 months

Chart

A visual display that contains graphical elements, such as points, lines and areas.

Bar chart (also called bar graph), line chart, pie chart

Table

A relational information display that contains cells in rows and columns

This glossary of terms, a spreadsheet

Graph

A chart that contains an x and y axis, along which data are plotted

Bar chart, line chart, box-and-whisker plot, run chart

Measure

A content type representing performance indicators or metrics of care quality and outcomes

Appropriate prescribing of antibiotics, patient-reported blood pressure

Ascribee

A content type representing a feedback recipient or performance comparator

A healthcare professional, hospitals in Michigan, an achievable benchmark

Performance level

A content type representing the result of a quality or outcome measurement process

8%, 13, High, Yes, 24/100, 3.9

Time interval

A content type representing a unit of time

Quarter 3, 2019, October 2006