Feds add patient ratings to Hospital Compare website

The Federal government has now placed patient ratings of hospitals on a publicly available government website. (Source: "Site shows how patients in U.S. rate hospitals," Columbus Dispatch, March 29, 2008.) The website, Hospital Compare, gives patient ratings of more than 2,500 hospitals on such topics as cleanliness, quietness and communication with doctors and nurses. "Leaders of hospital and labor groups heralded the addition of patient-satisfaction information, saying it empowers patients and doctors and gives hospital executives guidance on how to improve. Most measures focus on things hospital workers do for patients, such as giving aspirin to heart patients. Two measures look at outcomes, data many view as the most significant step to demystify the quality of health care. More outcomes data, including mortality numbers, are expected as more transparency is required." According to Carolyn Clancy, director of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 61% of patients go to hospitals for elective procedures, meaning websites like this one will be useful since most patients have the opportunity to consider where they'll be treated.