Medicare Hospital Compare – Facts to Know

Medicare Hospital Compare – could this be a game changer for your health care decisions? 

Finally, a hospital comparison tool we can all easily use and understand.  

Medicare Hospital Compare

The data compiled in this user-friendly resource is taken from the largest compiler of hospital and healthcare data in the United States – The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, commonly known as CMS. CMS is one of the greatest contributors to helping us make wise, evidence-based decisions regarding our health care.

After 29 years of experience working in health insurance, with clients from across the country, I’m often asked which is the best hospital.  Of course, I can’t recommend one specific hospital, clinic or facility, but based on the criteria presented on Medicare Hospital Compare, you can make these important decisions for yourself.  In fact, you can look at any hospital in the United States that’s supplied data for CMS.  Data is compiled from the experiences of both Medicare and Non-Medicare patients. This provides a great compilation of user-friendly and relevant information.  

For example, you’re in need of a heart procedure and you live in Cleveland, Ohio. If your initial research ranks the Cleveland Clinic as one of the best facilities in the US for cardiac procedures, you can use this tool: Medicare Hospital Compare. You can see how the Cleveland Clinic may compare to University Hospital or to Fairview Hospital.  You’d be able to see that the Cleveland Clinic has an overall rating of 4 of 5 stars. University Hospital has a 3-star rating. And Fairview has a star rating of 5 of 5, a perfect score.  This information will certainly help in making your decision. 

The ratings themselves are compiled from measuring 64 different criteria.  

These areas of focus include things like mortality, the safety of care, readmission, the patients’ experience, effectiveness and timeliness of care, and, last but not least, efficient use of imaging. Evaluating mortality, the data digs even deeper into specific procedures, like death due to heart failure or death from a Coronary Bypass.  The interesting and important information is broken down so that even the “arm-chair medical doctor” within us can view the information and start compiling a list of questions or topics to explore with real Doctors.

If you or a family member learn an operation or procedure has been recommended by a doctor, your first inclination is to research what you can understand about the procedure (without a medical degree). You want to know the details, possible complications, rehabilitation and all the other top issues.  Now, it’s finally possible to look at how a recommended facility rates when compared to other hospitals, maybe even a Center of Excellence.

It’s safe to say that nobody enjoys a trip to the hospital. However, if a hospital visit is required, the research found on Medicare Hospital Compare proves invaluable.  I encourage you to look up your open local hospitals and review the ratings and findings. Do a comparison with one of the “big hospitals”, that everyone raves about.  I was shocked with the ratings on my own local hospital!

Feel free to share this valuable with your friends and family and social media. 

Well-known, prestigious hospitals that have contributed to Medicare Hospital Compare include the Cleveland Clinic, OSU Medical Center, Duke University, Johns Hopkins, and Mount Sanai.

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