The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice is teaming up with Consumers Union to launch a web tool which will rank nearly 3,000 hospitals online. The rankings were originally published in the organization's July magazine Consumer Reports in an article entitled "Too Much Treatment," which highlighted the wide disparity in hospital's treatment and patient outcome throughout the country.
The website's ratings reveal that more expensive treatment does not mean higher quality care, said Deborah Kimbell, a spokesperson for the Institute. The website ranked hospitals on a scale of 0 to 100 from "conservative" to "aggressive." Higher, or more aggressive, ratings implied more reliance on specialists, more days spent in hospitals by patients and higher out-of-pocket expenditures.
Hospitals in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and New York had some of the most aggressive ratings, but do not necessarily have better health outcomes, according to the report. More aggressive hospitals have slightly higher mortality rates, which is likely due to the increased probability of medical errors or infections.
"Hospitals are dangerous places," Kimbell said. "Every time you have a procedure you're opening yourself up to risk."
In addition, hospitals in different regions and neighborhoods will often have vast differences in health care treatment. Regions with a higher percentage of doctors and hospital beds generally have more aggressive treatment, while some regions have a higher prevalence of back surgery for no apparent reason, according to Kimbell.
"In health care, geography is often destiny," she said.
Kimbell said she hopes the rankings will better educate consumers and allow them to make better health care decisions. Studies show that most patients want to die in their own beds, she said, and the findings should dispel the myth that intensive care in a hospital, especially at the end of life, is effective.
"We are about informing patients and giving them the information to make better choices," Kimbell said.
Kimbell said that the Institute chose to partner with Consumers Union because of its reputation for integrity and impartiality, she said.
The Institute also helped the pairing would bring their research to a wider audience than the 4 million subscribers to the Dartmouth Atlas, a database put out by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice that measures how medical care is delivered across the country.
"Consumer Reports is the perfect partner to help put this information in the hands of the consumers," Jack Wennberg, founder of the Dartmouth Atlas, said in an interview with InfoZine, a Kansas City web publication.
In addition to hospital rankings, Consumer Union's health website also publishes online reviews of prescription drugs, diet plans and exercise machines.
The Atlas's ranking system is based on the treatment of 4,732,448 Medicare patients in 2,878 hospitals for the top nine leading causes of death: congestive heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease, cancer, dementia, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney failure, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes and severe chronic pulmonary disease.By Michael Coburn
The Dartmouth Staff
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice is teaming up with Consumers Union to launch a web tool which will rank nearly 3,000 hospitals online. The rankings were originally published in the organization's July magazine Consumer Reports in an article entitled "Too Much Treatment," which highlighted the wide disparity in hospital's treatment and patient outcome throughout the country.
The website's ratings reveal that more expensive treatment does not mean higher quality care, said Deborah Kimbell, a spokesperson for the Institute. The website ranked hospitals on a scale of 0 to 100 from "conservative" to "aggressive." Higher, or more aggressive, ratings implied more reliance on specialists, more days spent in hospitals by patients and higher out-of-pocket expenditures.
Hospitals in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and New York had some of the most aggressive ratings, but do not necessarily have better health outcomes, according to the report. More aggressive hospitals have slightly higher mortality rates, which is likely due to the increased probability of medical errors or infections.
"Hospitals are dangerous places," Kimbell said. "Every time you have a procedure you're opening yourself up to risk."
In addition, hospitals in different regions and neighborhoods will often have vast differences in health care treatment. Regions with a higher percentage of doctors and hospital beds generally have more aggressive treatment, while some regions have a higher prevalence of back surgery for no apparent reason, according to Kimbell.
"In health care, geography is often destiny," she said.
Kimbell said she hopes the rankings will better educate consumers and allow them to make better health care decisions. Studies show that most patients want to die in their own beds, she said, and the findings should dispel the myth that intensive care in a hospital, especially at the end of life, is effective.
"We are about informing patients and giving them the information to make better choices," Kimbell said.
Kimbell said that the Institute chose to partner with Consumers Union because of its reputation for integrity and impartiality, she said.
The Institute also helped the pairing would bring their research to a wider audience than the 4 million subscribers to the Dartmouth Atlas, a database put out by the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice that measures how medical care is delivered across the country.
"Consumer Reports is the perfect partner to help put this information in the hands of the consumers," Jack Wennberg, founder of the Dartmouth Atlas, said in an interview with InfoZine, a Kansas City web publication.
In addition to hospital rankings, Consumer Union's health website also publishes online reviews of prescription drugs, diet plans and exercise machines.
The Atlas' ranking system is based on the treatment of 4,732,448 Medicare patients in 2,878 hospitals for the top nine leading causes of death: congestive heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease, cancer, dementia, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney failure, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes and severe chronic pulmonary disease.
