Want to find out more about hospital care and outcomes in the US? Here is a link to the “Hospital Compare” page at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 

“The Hospital Compare website was created through the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), along with the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). The HQA is a public-private collaboration established to promote reporting on hospital quality of care. The HQA consists of organizations that represent consumers, hospitals, doctors and nurses, employers, accrediting organizations, and Federal agencies. The information on this website can be used by any patients needing hospital care.

“Hospital Compare displays rates for Process of Care measures that show whether or not hospitals provide some of the care that is recommended for patients being treated for a heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, asthma (children only) or patients having surgery. Hospitals voluntarily submit data from medical records about the treatments their patients receive for these conditions. The data include patients with Medicare, those enrolled in Medicare health plans, and those who don’t have Medicare.”

The above link allows users to take a look at hospitals (right here in Lancaster County) and across the country for information about:

• Process of Care Measures
• Outcome of Care Measures
• Use of Medical Imaging
• Survey of Patients’ Hospital Experiences

The Website also allows for comparisons of the hospital with state and national hospital averages. (Someone once described “average” to us as the “best of the worst” or the “worst of the best.”) 

In any case, you may find this Web application useful in your decision-making process.