Comparative data on patient safety and hospital quality are available for the first time through WhyNotTheBest.org, The Commonwealth Fund’s resource for reporting and comparing health care quality. The new information is derived from measures developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and is available from data submitted by hospitals in nine states—Arizona, Florida, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. It is the most up-to-date data available for each state and is comprehensive, including information from all payers—Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers.
The patient safety indicators reflect quality of care for adults inside hospitals, and focus on potentially avoidable complications and medical mistakes. The inpatient quality indicators also reflect quality of care for adults inside hospitals and include inpatient mortality for selected medical conditions and procedures such as pneumonia, inpatient heart attack, and stroke. Users can compare hospitals within and among states and make use of the case studies and improvement resources available on the Web site. The Commonwealth Fund will be adding AHRQ data for other states later this year.