   Five Eastern Idaho area hospitals were mentioned recently in a Consumer Reports Magazine ranking that’s meant to aid patients as far as where they should schedule a needed surgery.
   Hospitals were ranked on a scale from better to worse, with categories such as highly improved, somewhat improved, unchanged, somewhat of a decline and a significant decline.
   Specifically, the ratings are based on the percentage of a hospital’s surgery patients who died in the hospital or stayed longer than expected for their procedure. Researchers argue the data indicates that those measures can be correlated with complications. A number of hospitals use the same approach to monitor quality.
   Portneuf Medical Center received the highest score possible.
   Bingham Memorial Hospital’s numbers added up to an unchanged ranking. The same goes for Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and Mountain View Hospital in Idaho Falls, as well as Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg.
   Furthermore, the surgery ratings look at how hospitals, nationwide, compare in avoiding adverse events in Medicare patients during their hospital stay for surgery. To develop the ratings, they work with a health care consulting firm that analyzes
billing claims and clinical records data in order to help hospitals improve patient safety.
  The analysis for this particular ranking examined Medicare claims data from 2009 to 2011 for patients undergoing 27 categories of common scheduled surgeries. For each hospital, the results for all procedures are combined into an overall surgery rating.
   In addition, they have ratings for five of those procedures on their website, which include back surgery, replacement of the hip or knee and surgery to remove blockages in arteries, angioplasty, or carotid artery surgery.
   The rates are risk-adjusted based on patient characteristics such as age, gender, and other health conditions, including high blood pressure and diabetes. The ratings do not take into account complications that became apparent after patients were discharged from the hospital.
   The Consumer Report ranking for the 2,463 U.S. acute-care or critical-access hospitals with sufficient Medicare fee-for-service in-patient surgical claims data from patients 65 and older. Veterans Affairs hospitals and hospitals that mostly see
Medicare Advantage patients, such as many Kaiser hospitals, are not included as they use a different reporting system.
For further information, visit ConsumerReports.org/hospitalratings.
(1) comment
I recently read the Time Article of "Bitter Pill".
I guess we are fortunate to have such good Medical Facilities in our area, but, with our Profit run Health Care Monopoly, it is getting too expensive to take advantage of the services.
The Insurance Companies, who are fixing prices with the "Charge Master Computer Nationwide Data Base" has removed all Competition of the Health Care Providers. Increasing costs 7% annually fixing prices, like $45 Aspirins, $100 an hour hospital recovery room, and $12,000 a day Hospital stays,
I would think Health Care Providers, no matter how good they are, should be worried that people will be by-passing their services in lieu of a Plane Ticket to Panama or Costa Rica to get health care, it is cheaper in the long run and you don't run the risk of Bankruptcy because you get sick, nearly one million families every year are put in bankruptcy because of Medical Bills and 70% have health insurance that "does not pay".
Everyone should read "Bitter Pill", 34 pages of Wake up Call. You can sign up for a Time Subscription to read on line or go to the Library. Everyone should read that article. If you go in without health insurance to a hospital for a heart attack, garner up a $30,000 bill, before you will be allowed to see the doctor in a followup appointment, you will have to pay, in cash, a major portion of that bill, at least $15,000. Most use Credit Cards and Home Equity to come up with the Cash aka go into debt to pay medical bills. The Time Article tells the story of one family who were told to "fork over Cash before and appointment could be made".
We have "Competition in Name Only" in Health Care. It is a Monopoly and Non-Profits are more Profitable than For Profits.
The Insurance Companies hate Obamacare, they had to give back $1.5 Billion for overcharging premiums the last two years.
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/what-makes-health-care-so-expensive/
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