Consumers Checkbook
November 21, 2009

Consumers' Guide to Hospitals

Which Hospital Should You Choose (or Avoid)?

Roughly one out of ten Americans will be admitted to a hospital next year. A key question for anyone who must enter a hospital is how to be sure it is a good one. The Consumers' Guide to Hospitals points you in the right direction.

The Guide provides:

A comparison of death and "adverse outcome" rates for major types of cases.

Doctors' ratings of hospitals in areas such as High-Risk Adult Surgery, Low-Risk Adult Surgery, Complex Medical Care for Adults, and more.
Patients' ratings of hospitals.
Assessments of whether the hospitals fail to provide proper tests and procedures.
Ratings of hospitals on key patient safety measures.

Desirability Scores for:
High-Risk Adult Surgery
Low-Risk Adult Surgery
Complex Adult Medical Care
High-Risk Delivery of a Baby
Uncomplicated Delivery of a Baby
High-Risk Child Surgery
Order Options
One year of Online Access to Guide to Hospitals for only $22.00
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"What makes the Consumers' Guide to Hospitals so special?
We've got 30 million answers to that question. That's how many hospital records Consumers' CHECKBOOK sifted through to calculate risk-adjusted death rates and adverse-outcome rates, and that's just part of the data used to rate the hospitals. The organization also sent out more than 280,000 questionnaires to physicians in 53 major metropolitan areas in the United States, asking them to rate their local hospitals; checked ratings of the hospitals by surveyed consumers; checked which hospitals were providing recommended tests and procedures for patients with specified medical problems; and more."

AARP The Magazine

Related CHECKBOOK Resources:


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