HospitalCompare.Gov Offers Insight Into Care Given at Hospitals

Hospital Compare.gov is the official U.S. government site for Medicare and is part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Quality Initiative (aka. CMS).  HospitalCompare.gov  “uses a variety of tools to help stimulate and support improvements in the quality of care delivered by hospitals. The intent is to help improve hospitals’ quality of care by distributing objective, easy to understand data on hospital performance, and quality information from consumer perspectives.”

There are many measures and outcomes that rate healthcare facilities.

When entering the HospitalCompare.gov site, you will be asked for a zip code and then you will see a list of area hospitals. The list for 18104 included 13 hospitals. I checked off Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest, Allentown campus, St. Luke’s Ostrum Street, Bethlehem campus, and Westfield Hospital, Allentown. All three are considered acute care adult facilities and all three offer Emergency Department services.

Results are listed for each chosen hospital along with the PA average and the National average.

Under Emergency Care, Westfield Hospital well exceeded the other area hospitals.  “Timely and effective care in hospital emergency departments is essential for good patient outcomes. Delays before receiving care in the emergency department can reduce the quality care and increase risks and discomfort for patients with serious illnesses or injuries. Waiting times at different hospital can vary widely.”

Westfield Hospital boasted the shortest wait time in the Lehigh Valley, with only 23 minute waits before being seen by a physician. The average time spent in the Emergency Department after the doctor decided to admit them as an inpatient before leaving the emergency department for their inpatient room had Westfield at 60 minutes compared to 140 minutes at LVHN, 86 minutes at St. Luke’s, and 95 minutes as the PA average. From arrival to discharge and arrival to admission, Westfield exceeded both the State and National patient satisfaction scores!

What does this mean to you? If you are not a trauma patient, experiencing a heart attack or stroke, but need to be seen in an Emergency Department then Westfield Hospital has the quickest turnaround time for a patient to be seen by the doctor. Quicker care increases quality care and decreases discomfort and risks.

Recent published data also referred to Medicare reimbursements – if a patient was readmitted after being treated at a hospital and within the 30 day parameter, the readmission was charged against the hospital. A hospital can lose medical funds if their readmission rate is too high.

The three disease states that HospitalCompare reviewed for readmission rates were pneumonia, heart failure, and heart attack. The Morning Call’s headline, “Feds penalize hospitals for excess readmissions,” was published on Aug. 6. The story, written by Tim Darragh, was based off this Medicare report.

“Hospitals around the region will again feel the sting of the federal government's effort to wring out unnecessary health care spending.” The effort by the government is to reward and pay for quality outcomes versus payment for services rendered. Keeping readmissions low is the goal for hospitals partially so their reimbursement rates are not penalized. Westfield Hospital, in South Whitehall Township, had no penalties for the second year.

Westfield Hospital’s COO, Cheryl Kreider commented on Westfield’s accomplishment for low readmission rates, “Westfield Hospital is committed to patient safety, as evidenced by our recent 'Patient Safety Excellence Award' from HealthGrades. A number of important factors are key to preventing re-admissions including infection control, private rooms, following proper surgical care standards and prevention methods. Most important is to have the patient and their families involved in their own care pre- and post-hospitalization. Westfield's staff advocates for our patients through discharge instructions and discharge follow-up phone calls.”

The positive of the report is a consumer or patient can compare local hospitals to find one that best fits their healthcare need.

The negative is the data is not current. By the time the information is entered and reported, nine months have lapsed. So if a hospital achieved a low score in a particular area, like explaining medications to their patients, the facility might have already addressed the need and improved this deficiency. If you do review this report, try to remember that the data is not a snapshot of today, but an average from almost a year ago.

Go ahead – and compare.gov.