Health

Calculating survival in the hospital

by Jason Sanders | August 21, 2008 at 09:36 am

225 views | 2 Recommendations | 2 comments

HospitalCompare has been around since 2006, allowing patients to compare hospital death rates with the ease of a comparison shopper site. You can compare up to three hospitals in a given area (city, zip code etc.) on mortality rates, drugs given after heart attacks, asthma patient care and overall patient satisfaction.

However, the site has begun offering specific numbers if hospitals are above, or below, the national average for that category.

In the past, the information specified only whether a hospital was performing at, above or below the national average, without disclosing numbers.

Some people aren't happy about this, as certain hospitals experience sicker patients, or are in a more suseptable region (ie. An above average senior citizen population). The site has tried to counteract this by "risk adjusting the numbers and tak[ing] into account the previous health condition of patients."

Overall, though, the response has been positive and many believe that this will usher in more accountability.

"I do hope that it empowers groups of patients and community groups and hospital boards to engage in a conversation with their institution. They really need to be held accountable," [Harlan Krumholz, a cardiologist and professor of medicine and epidemiology and public health at Yale University] said. "This is a tool that can improve the conversation."

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Helen Womersley (not verified)

at 02:16 on August 22nd, 2008

I am a UK nurse and over recent years I have seen significant changes in the way patients use the NHS. As more and more information is made available to the patients and we move into an era of greater transparency of information, patients have greater power to choose what treatment they have, where they have it and even the consultant that provides the care. It must be argued that these 'market orientated' changes in healthcare provision are beneficial to the patient, allowing them to make the best informed decissions about their care. However, not everyone has equal access to the information available or the knowhow to find what they're looking for amongst the ether and this is where the real concern lies.