While previous studies have failed to prove that access to quality information from public reporting sites such as Hospital Compare can be an impetus for hospitals to improve quality of care, a study published in the January issue of Health Affairs indicates it may have an impact on prices.1
The study, by Avi Dor and colleagues, found that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) public reporting on two procedures — coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or bypass surgeries; and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) — correlated to a decline in the rate of growth in prices for those procedures.
Using data from procedures between 2005 and 2010, a period that covered pre-Hospital Compare and after it had been in place for some time, the authors suggest that insurance companies are using the data from the site as a bargaining chip with hospitals.
Hospital Peer Review will delve further into the study for an upcoming issue, exploring what this information means to hospitals and quality professionals.
- Dor A, Encinosa WE, Carey K. Medicare’s Hospital Compare Quality Reports Appear To Have Slowed Price Increases For Two Major Procedures. Health Aff January 2015 vol. 34 no. 1 71-77
