The North Carolina Hospital Association on Thursday launched a new Web site that lets consumers compare the quality of care that hospitals provide to surgical patients, pneumonia patients, and heart attack and heart failure patients, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.
The Web site rates hospitals on how consistently they follow recognized practices to prevent infection, speed recovery and avoid complications. The Web site also lets consumers compare hospitals in their area with state and national averages for hospital performance. North Carolina is the first state to launch its own quality reporting Web site, according to the hospital association (Fisher, Raleigh News & Observer, 1/19).
The hospital association's North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality created the Web site using publicly available information from Medicare and comparing hospital records to determine whether patients' health improved while receiving treatment at a facility, the AP/Thibodaux Daily Comet reports.
Bill Atkinson, chair of the North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality, said the Web site will help consumers make health care decisions and provide the government and insurers with hospital performance information (AP/Thibodaux Daily Comet, 1/19). Hospital association officials also believe that the Web site could encourage hospitals to improve (Raleigh News & Observer, 1/19).