Hello,
I've added Hospital Compare to the Reference Quicklinks page on the Bio-Med Web site. Thought it might come in handy when people are seeking quality information about hospitals. Here is some information from their About page:
"Hospital Quality Overview
The Hospital Compare website was created through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), along with the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). The HQA is a public-private collaboration established to promote reporting on hospital quality of care. The HQA consists of organizations that represent consumers, hospitals, doctors and nurses, employers, accrediting organizations, and Federal agencies. The information on this website can be used by any adult needing hospital care.
Hospital Compare displays rates for Process of Care measures that show how often hospitals provide some of the care that is recommended for patients being treated for a heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia, or patients having surgery. Hospitals voluntarily submit data from their medical records about the treatments their adult patients receive for these conditions, including patients with Medicare and those who do not have Medicare.
This website also displays information on 30-day Risk Adjusted Death (Mortality) Rates for patients with Medicare who were admitted to the hospital for heart attack and heart failure. The 30-day period is used because this is the time period when deaths are most likely to be related to the care patients received in the hospital. The CMS compiles this information from claims and enrollment data for patients in Original (fee-for-service) Medicare. Unlike the rates for the Process of Care measures, which reflect care for people in Medicare Advantage plans or people who do not have Medicare, the mortality rates show information only for patients in Original Medicare. It does not include people in Medicare Advantage plans or people who do not have Medicare.
Neither process of care information nor information on death (mortality) rates are available on this website for children’s, psychiatric, rehabilitation, or long-term care hospitals.
This information helps you, your health care provider, family, and friends compare the quality of care provided in the hospitals that agree to submit data on the quality of certain services they provide for certain conditions. This quality information not only helps you make good decisions about your health care, but also encourages hospitals to improve the quality of health care they provide.
Quality information is not available on this website for children's, psychiatric, rehabilitation or long-term care hospitals because they generally do not treat adult patients for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia, or perform surgeries on adults."
Cheers,
Martha