An interesting article in The Washington Post looks at the growth of hospital scorecards, and the diversity of data sets for evaluating hospitals, which can lead to confusion with hospital evaluations dependant on who compiles the data.
The article finds that the number of organizations trying to evaluate hospitals is growing fast, along with the breadth and sophistication of their analysis – as part of the movement toward consumer-driven health care, and much of the information is available on the Web, where you can sort it by region, type of hospital or the particular ailment or procedure you’re interested in. The problem, however, is that hospitals that look great according to one data set often come up short on other scorecards. Over time, the wide variations should decline as the rating industry develops better analytical tools. But for the moment, it can all be bewildering.
Read full news item: Hospitals Check Their Charts – Rankings Push Them to Improve Care, The Washington Post (04/20/07)