Hospital Compare, Medicare's seven-year public reporting initiative for hospitals, had no impact on reducing mortality rates for heart attacks and pneumonia, according to research published in Health Affairs.
Hospital Compare was created to help Medicare patients navigate hospitals and other healthcare providers based on standards of care. To determine whether this public reporting program had any effect on hospital mortality rates, the researchers used Medicare claims data from 2000 to 2008 to estimate thirty-day mortality rates for heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia.
While the evidence suggests Hospital Compare does not help reduce mortality rates among heart attack and pneumonia patients, the researchers found a modest improvement in mortality rates for heart failure; though, they weren't able to prove this was related to the public reporting initiative.
The findings help inform the ongoing debate about Hospital Compare, whose measures, some critics say, do not necessarily reflect quality of care provided at hospitals.
Hospital Compare was created to help Medicare patients navigate hospitals and other healthcare providers based on standards of care. To determine whether this public reporting program had any effect on hospital mortality rates, the researchers used Medicare claims data from 2000 to 2008 to estimate thirty-day mortality rates for heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia.
While the evidence suggests Hospital Compare does not help reduce mortality rates among heart attack and pneumonia patients, the researchers found a modest improvement in mortality rates for heart failure; though, they weren't able to prove this was related to the public reporting initiative.
The findings help inform the ongoing debate about Hospital Compare, whose measures, some critics say, do not necessarily reflect quality of care provided at hospitals.
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Commonwealth Fund Updates Hospital Quality Comparison Website