SCNI internet news Wednesday January 6, 5:38 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Healthcare Report Cards, Inc.
Hospitals Graded for Quality of Care
in Neurosciences, Pulmonary/Respiratory;
HealthCareReportCards.com Grades Nearly 5,000
Hospitals
LAKEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthCareReportCards.com™, the free Internet
hospital rating service, announced today that it has added neurology, neurosurgery and
pulmonary/respiratory as the newest medical specialties by which it grades the performance and
quality of care of up to 4,600 U.S. hospitals. The hugely popular Internet web site, created by
Lakewood, Colo.-based Healthcare Report Cards, Inc. (HRCI), has registered nearly six million
consumer and medical professional hits since its launch on October 27.
''This is another in a growing list of medical criteria for consumers, referring physicians and managed
care companies to use when comparing the quality of care offered by their local and regional
hospitals with the most prestigious and top-rated medical facilities nationwide,'' said Sarah Loughran,
vice president of HRCI.
''Hospitals that treat neurological problems like strokes, those that perform back and neck surgery
such as disc removals, and those that treat viral pneumonia and respiratory infections are rated based
on either mortality rates or the incidence of major complications such as infections or cardiac arrest,''
Loughran added. ''The results are risk-adjusted to accurately reflect the severity of illness at each
hospital.''
Neurology grades will be based on each hospital's stroke mortality outcomes over three time
periods: inhospital mortality, inhospital plus one month after discharge and inhospital plus six months
after discharge. Strokes, also known as cerebral vascular accidents (CVAs), are caused by a
sudden reduction of blood flow to an area of the brain that impairs or blocks physical or mental
capabilities controlled by that portion of the brain. About 90 percent of strokes are ischemic
infarctions, a sudden blood clot or buildup of blood within the brain, and about 10 percent are
hemorrhagic strokes caused by a rupture or breakage of a blood vessel in the brain.
Neurosurgery performance measures major complications (such as infection and cardiac arrest)
associated with back and neck surgery with spinal fusion, and back and neck surgery without spinal
fusion. The latter includes laminectomy, decompression and discectomy. Orthopedic surgeons also
perform back and neck surgery and the appropriate hospital grades are listed under ''Orthopedics''
in the medical specialty selection page of the web site. More than 1,000 hospitals are graded in the
category.
Pulmonary/Respiratory, includes Viral pneumonia, aspiration pneumonia, respiratory infection except
aspiration pneumonia and tuberculosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Grades are
based on each hospital's inhospital mortality rate and its inhospital rate plus 30 days after discharge
and are able for more than 4,000 hospitals nationwide.
The site already accurately and objectively grades 3,800 hospitals engaged in cardiac surgery and
cardiology and 2,580 hospitals engaged in orthopedic joint replacement surgery. During 1999, U.S.
hospitals will be graded in other major medical specialties such as vascular surgery, obstetrics and
transplants.
''Some hospitals care for a greater number of patients who are more seriously ill than do some other
hospitals,'' said Kevin J. Hicks, executive vice president of Healthcare Report Cards, Inc. (HRCI).
''Our proprietary risk-adjusted system, developed by Dr. Susan DesHarnais of the Medical
University of South Carolina, uses a logistic regression model to equalize the data for severity of
patients and conditions to compare hospitals apples-to-apples,'' Hicks added.
In each of the clinical categories, the five-star rated hospitals represent the top 10 percent of all U.S.
medical facilities as graded by HealthCareReportCards.com™. The grades posted on
HealthCareReportCards.com™ reflect both the quality of care delivered by the hospital's staff, and
also the quality of care given by the physicians involved in the relevant patient cases, Loughran
added.
The raw data, the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR), is purchased from the
Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, and reflect official reports made by each hospital. Five and four-star hospitals can buy
sponsorships on the HCRC site and can purchase the data for local promotions, marketing and
public relations, she said.
The contents of HealthCareReportCards.com™ are copyrighted. Use of the data for any purpose,
without the written permission of Healthcare Report Cards, Inc., is prohibited.
SOURCE: Healthcare Report Cards, Inc. |
