quality ratings

The Institute of Medicine released a much-anticipated report on Medicare Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs), arguing that the responsibility for investigating patient complaints should be given to somebody else. The report echoes earlier findings that had argued QIOs may not be looking into problems as rigorously as necessary because of financial links to doctors and hospitals. The Institute argues that QIOs should refine their focus to concentrate solely on providing technical …

HealthGrades has released its annual Hospital Quality in America Study. The for-profit company bases its ratings on Medicare data, assigning hospitals one star (poor), three star (as expected) and five star (best) quality ratings across 18 procedures and diagnoses. The study examines performance over a three-year period from 2002 to 2004. Ratings are available online at the HealthGrades Web site. Researchers note that the five star hospitals are generally hospitals with …

With transparency in hospital quality ratings an increasingly important issue in  the era of consumer driven care, companies which produce hospital ratings are coming under increasing scrutiny. Do the awards handed out by companies like HealthGrades and JD Power actually mean anything? Are attitudes changing? The South Florida Business Journal looks at the controversy surrounding the awards, which some hospitals use to market their services. One hospital executive who …