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Site rates CABGs, stents, angios, scores hospital
Your hospital’s cardiac surgery scores are probably displayed now on the Internet, thanks to a new service that rates cardiac surgery and cardiology programs in hospitals around the United States. (See examples, p. 8.)
Statistics on coronary bypasses, valve replacement surgery, and interventional procedures including angioplasty, stent placement, and atherectomy as well as diagnostic procedures are all there.
Producers of the site, HealthCareReportCards in Lakewood, CO, have plans to update ratings twice a year, and the site will soon also include scores in other fields such as respiratory illness, oncology, and neurosurgery — adding new areas approximately once a month. The mortality data used to produce the ratings were purchased from the Baltimore-based Health Care Financing Administration — Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR).
Mortality rates — in-hospital, 30 days after discharge, and six months after discharge — are registered for Medicare patients treated between 1995 and 1997. The ratings are "apples to apples" — they are adjusted for the fact that some hospitals attract sicker patients and thus have a higher mortality rate.
About 15% of hospitals are ranked four stars (very good) or five (best), and 70% get a three-star rating, meaning that they were average or had an expected mortality rate.
The site does not include information on physician performance.
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