Hospital Death Rates Unveiled for First-Time Comparison

1)Healthcare quality comes from consistent processes which limit variation. 2)Statistical data provides measurements so it is possible to manage what you can measure. 3)Decisions should be close to the patient. Healthcare delivery has struggled with the transparency requirements for patients to evaluate the quality that they are receiving. By introducing visibility to the quality of...

1) Health Care Financing Administration published hospital mortality rates in the 80's, only to later discontinue the practice.  2) Mortality rates are a poor proxy for quality.  3)  Other measures are better to assess quality of care.

This past week for the first time, the federal government posted on its  Hospital Compare web site the actual death rates for hospitals treating patients with three conditions:  heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia.  In the past, the feds had only indicated whether these death rates were higher, lower or about what could be expected given patients' pretreatment severity of...