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In this report: Overview; When experience counts most; Readers report on care; Hospital report cards

January 2003

Hospital report cards

The idea of hospital report cards is so new that there's no standardized way of presenting the reports or agreement on what aspects of care should be measured. User-friendliness varies widely. For those reasons, we have not rated or ranked report cards; the list below is alphabetical.

The national report cards cover the vast majority of hospitals. The states and localities listed below are also covered by more detailed reports.

If you need surgery: Locate available information for your region on volume and outcomes, such as mortality, for the surgery or procedure you are going to have. There's no standardized cutoff between good and bad hospitals, but if you have a choice, avoid hospitals whose volume numbers seem much lower or whose death rates seem much higher than others in your region. (Every report card that includes death rates has been statistically adjusted for patients' degree of illness.)

If you're seeking the best all-around hospital: Locate available information on the hospitals in your region (or, at least, the ones your health plan covers). Look for patterns: Does this hospital tend to rate better or worse than others in your region?

REPORT CARD	ACCESS	CONTENT	DATA SOURCES	COMMENTS
NATIONAL
America's Best Hospitals U.S. News & World Report	www.usnews.com 800-436-6520 Free on web site. List published in July, $3.95.	Ranks top 50 hospitals in each of 17 specialty areas; 205 hospitals ranked overall. Rankings based on mortality rates, available technology and services, nursing staff levels, physician survey.	Medicare records, AHA proprietary database, physician survey.	The only report card that contains nursing information. On the web, searchable by hospital, location, or specialty area.
Guide to Hospitals Consumers' Checkbook	www.checkbook.org 800-213-7283 Print, $19.95. Free online for Consumers' Checkbook subscribers. Two years of web access: $19.95 for nonsubscribers.	4,500 hospitals rated. Mortality rates for 10 common medical conditions and 2 types of surgery; adverse-outcome rates for 7 types of surgery; all compared to national averages.	Medicare records, accreditation review scores, physician surveys.	Plentiful information and useful hospital safety advice. Confusing design.
Hospital Report Cards Health Grades Inc.	www.healthgrades.com Free for limited use. Site sells comprehensive reports on individual hospitals: $24.95 per 3 reports.	Ratings of more than 5,000 hospitals based on volume and mortality rates for 25 common procedures and diagnoses. Obstetrics data available for hospitals in 18 states, including Cesarean rates, volume, and complication rates.	Medicare records; for obstetrics, hospital-discharge reports.	Cumbersome search mechanism. Site only allows viewing of ratings for one procedure at a time. No overall hospital ratings.
Quality Check Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations	www.jcaho.org Free.	Results of most-recent review by national hospital-accreditation authority. Scores for hospital services and systems compared with national results. Interactive search features.	JCAHO records.	No disease-specific or volume information.
REPORT CARD	ACCESS	CONTENT	DATA SOURCES	COMMENTS
SELECTED STATES California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin
Health Care Choices	www.healthcarechoices.org Free.	Volume information for specified states on high-risk cancer and cardiac surgeries. Site also links to individual state hospital-report sites.	Hospital-discharge reports.	No outcome information.
State hospital report cards
California
California Report on Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery Heart Attack Outcomes California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development Pacific Business Group on Health	www.oshpd.state.ca.us 916-322-2814 Free.	Volume and mortality information on coronary-bypass surgery for 79 of 118 hospitals that perform it. Mortality information for 398 of 400 hospitals admitting heart-attack patients. Printed reports available.	Hospital-discharge reports.	No interactive search features. Graphs somewhat difficult to interpret.
California
Patients' Evaluation of Performance in California California HealthCare Foundation California Institute for Health Systems Performance	www.healthscope.org 888-430-2423 Free.	Ratings of 113 California hospitals (30 percent of eligible hospitals in the state) based on patients' opinions of quality of care. Printed reports available.	Patient surveys.	Uses easy-to-follow, 1-2-3 star ratings. Can narrow online search to specific hospitals or counties. Does not measure medical outcomes.
Maryland
Maryland Hospital Performance Evaluation Guide Maryland Health Care Commission Health Services Cost Review Commission	hospitalguide.mhcc.metro-data.com Free.	Volume, length of stay, and readmission information for acute- care facilities 33 diagnostic groups. Information on hospital size, accreditation status. Information can be searched interactively by location or diagnosis.	Hospital-discharge reports.	Diagnostic-group terminology may be too technical to understand.
New Jersey
Cardiac Surgery in New Jersey New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services	www.state.nj.us/health/reportcards.htm 888-393-1062 Free.	Cardiac-bypass-surgery volume and mortality information for 14 hospitals and 52 individual surgeons. Can download report or order a paper copy. No interactive search features.	Hospital-discharge reports.	Clear explanation of data.
New York
Cardiac Surgery Reports New York State Department of Health	www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/healthinfo/index.htm Free.	Volume and mortality information on coronary-bypass surgery and coronary angioplasty for hospitals and individual doctors. No interactive search features.	Hospital-discharge reports.	Technical language and dense numerical tables may be difficult to understand.
Pennsylvania
Hospital Performance Reports Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council	www.phc4.org 717-232-6787 Free.	Vast site with volume, mortality, length-of-stay, and other outcome information for 75 diagnostic groups. Separate, more-detailed reports on coronary-bypass surgery, heart-attack care, and Cesarean-section rates. Information can be searched interactively. Regional reports can be downloaded or ordered in printed version.	Hospital-discharge reports.	Amount of information can be overwhelming. Coronary-bypass-surgery volume and outcome information available on individual physicians as well as hospitals.
Texas
Indicators of Inpatient Care in Texas Hospitals Texas Health Care Information Council	www.thcic.state.tx.us 512-482-3312 Free.	Volume and mortality information for 25 procedures and conditions; frequency information for selected procedures, including Cesarian section and laproscopic gall-bladder surgery. Can view reports as detailed tables or bar graphs.	Hospital-discharge reports.	Web site difficult to navigate, but report graphs easy to understand. Site includes useful explanatory information.
Virginia
Cardiac Care Virginia Health Information	www.vhi.org 877-844-4636 Free.	Volume information for 39 diagnostic groups. Volume and mortality rates for open-heart surgery, invasive cardiology, and medical cardiology.	Hospital-discharge reports.	Sponsoring group also sells information to businesses.
South-central Wisconsin
QualityCounts Employer Health Care Alliance Cooperative	www.qualitycounts.org 608-276-6620 or 800-223-4139 Free.	Quality ratings of overall surgical and medical care, hip and knee surgery, cardiac care, and maternity care at 24 hospitals contracting with the sponsoring employer alliance.	Hospital-discharge reports.	Easy-to-understand ratings chart. Based on mortality and complication rates. No information on volume of services delivered.