How Good Is Your Local Hospital?
August 22nd, 2008
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Given the cost of medical treatment, and given that reverse mortgages are often used to fund such costs, it might be good to know how your local hospital rates.
That has long been an interesting — and perhaps uncomfortable — question for just about everyone. You would like to know that your local hospital does things right, day in and day out, especially if it happens to be a day that you are in.
Now there is a way to compare hospitals. The Department of Health & Human Services has an online tool which allows you to see how your hospital rates when viewed against common standards.
At the newly-minted Hospital Comparison Tool you can search by ZIP code, hospital name, by specific conditions or procedures.
For example:
Press the “Find & Compare” button.
Go to the “General Search” and press the button.
Press “Hospital Name” and fill in the name and state of your local hospital.
Press “continue.”
Check the little box by your hospital’s name and then press compare.
Like magic, a series of evaluations will arise.
Of particular interest is the chart showing patient experiences. Did the nurse or doctor communicate well? Was pain “always” controlled? Etc.
Curiously, I checked several local hospitals and the least known had the best patient results. Hmmm….
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