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  Hospital Quality Guides for Consumers    BACK to Contents page
Quality reports are only one source of information to consider when choosing a hospital. Other factors include what your health plan covers, where your doctor practices, and recommendations from trusted sources. You can use all of this information to talk with your doctor and hospital. It will allow you to take a more active role in making health care decisions.
Quality Report #1 Patient Safety and The LEAPFROG Group
Working to help reduce preventable medical mistakes and to save lives.

The four patient safety practices are: 1. computerized prescription ordering, 2. full-time doctors who are certified in critical care, 3. experience and best results for certain procedures, surgeries and conditions, and 4. a Safe Practices Score of specific practices that are known to reduce preventable medical mistakes and/or bad outcomes.
Quality Report #2 Quality Care Affects Outcomes
Reporting mortality statistics for selected conditions and procedures.

Indicators of hospital quality—developed by the federal government—show how some hospitals perform. These indicators include how often certain procedures are performed (volume) and if the hospital had more, fewer or an expected number of deaths (mortality).

 

CBGH uses a widely accepted definition of quality care for these quality reports: "The degree to which health services for individuals and populations increases the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge." In other words, quality care that meets the needs of the patient and is safe, timely and effective.

 These quality reports offer a number of excellent measures you can use. There is no one measure or type of report that can accurately describe any one institution. You should consider the best hospitals as those that are:

  • participating in the Leapfrog and Patient Safety Program and
  • have expected or better than expected results on the mortality statistics.

Not all hospitals are required or expected to report on all quality reports. In fact, smaller hospitals are not included in The LEAPFROG and Patient Safety list. If only a small number of cases are done or only a few patients are admitted with these diagnosis, then the mortality statistics are not calculated. These statistics are not an accurate reflection of actual performance if there are just small numbers.

Doctors direct and oversee the medical care in hospitals. The quality of care provided in a hospital comes from how well its doctors, nurses, support staff and management work together.

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