Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill., last week became the first in the Chicago area to post care quality information and patient satisfaction ratings online, the Chicago Tribune reports. The federal government plans next spring to release hospital care quality data.
Northwest posted on its Web site data about hospital-acquired infections, care for patients with heart attacks and heart failure, the adequacy of its nursing staff, as well as other measures. The hospital expects to update the site regularly and adjust it as officials learn more about what users want and how they respond, according to hospital spokesperson Blaine Krage.
Bruce Crowther, CEO of Northwest, said the hospital over the next year expects to add more information about services such as cardiology, orthopedics and cancer to the site. The hospital also plans to launch an online calculator to help consumers determine what they will pay for services. Crowther added that doctors and administrators are more likely to feel a sense of urgency to improve care when under public scrutiny.
Officials from Advocate Health Care, which operates eight hospitals in the Chicago area, said they plan to launch a similar Web site by early next year.
Dozens of other hospitals nationwide -- including Dartmouth-Hitchcock in New Hampshire, Norton Healthcare in Kentucky and the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio -- are posting quality information online.
Concerns About Online Information
While reaction to Northwest Community Hospital's disclosure of quality data online was generally positive, some health experts expressed concerns.
Leonard Lamkin, executive director of the Chicago Patient Safety Forum, said, "I like it ... but why are they reporting only one of the National Patient Safety Goals (in the patient safety section)? There are 16 goals, and they all should be up there." Krage said such data would be posted in the next six months.
Larry Boress, president of the Midwest Business Group on Health, said he had trouble understanding the source of the data, adding that he thinks the site should have better explanations of medical terms (Graham, Chicago Tribune, 9/16).