The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) data has been updated onto the abouthealthsatisfaction Web site today.
This Web site utilizes HCAHPS survey results, helping consumers to make fair and objective comparisons between hospitals, based on patients' feedback.
The HCAHPS survey consists of 10 measures:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): has recently launched a new web site offering expert perspectives, advice and guidance on drugs, biological products and medical devices.
The Clinician-Consumer Health Advisory Information Network links clinicians and consumers with therapeutics information to assist in clinical practice and health care decision making in areas where evidence is undergoing significant and rapid changes.
Kathryn Foxhall of Government Health IT reports on a Zip code atlas of population health.
This fall an online database will be launched, providing information on specific locations for chronic conditions such as obesity. The National Minority Quality Forum has created the ZIP Code Analysis Project to collect data on disease activity among both general and minority populations by postal code.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Ask Medicare Web site for family caregivers (those who are family members or friends who help people with Medicare).
The site provides several useful resources on health care information for users.
Examples of help caregivers provide:
Hospital-related illness reports go online: In Ontario, Canada by the end of September consumers will be able to go online and see how many patients are sick with infections and bacteria contracted from the hospital.
On September 30th every hospital in Ontario will have to report the number of patients sick from C. difficile. C. difficile is bacteria of the human intestine, which occurs mostly with patients who have been staying long-term in a hospital or nursing home.
From iHealthBeat: The Ohio Hospital Association will launch a Web-based hospital alert system on September 15th. The site will notify hospitals the severity of injuries of patients before they reach the facilities.
The site will work with SurgeNet (Ohio’s existing hospital bed-tracking system), aiding hospitals to avoid overcrowding and to respond to emergency situations.
Zachary A. Goldfarb of Hi-Wire reports: An online web site ‘Health Central’ created to become the online destination for health information.
The site provides information on symptoms and treatments. Patients and doctors are able to blog comments and experiences they have encountered. HealthCentral hopes to attract advertising from drug companies, health-care providers and others.
From Government Technology: An Easy Access Site for Disabled Seniors in Virginia.
A new online site has been developed to assist seniors and adults with disabilities. Virginia’s Department for the Aging, launched the ‘Virginia Easy Access’. It is part of the commonwealth’s No Wrong Door initiative.
From Healthcare IT News: Bernie Monegain reports online information has patients doubting doctors.
A new survey has illustrated that 85.6 million U.S. adults have doubts on the opinion of their doctors. Conversely a majority of Americans view health care providers as their most trusted source of medical information.
Kelton Research conducted an online survey using 1,000 U.S. adults, 18 years or older. Some key findings include:
From Healthcare IT News: The largest online encyclopedia of medicine to be launched at the end of 2008.
San Francisco, California is currently working on the Medpedia Project to build and support an online encyclopedia of medicine and health available to the public. Medpedia is a medical clearinghouse for information about health.
The governor of Louisiana has approved a bill (SB 287, the Louisiana Consumer's Right to Know Act) which charges the Department of Health and Hospitals with creating a website that will give Louisiana health care consumers access to reliable information on the cost, quality and performance of their health care providers and health plans – a first for the state.
The New York State Department of Health announced a new report illustrating lower rates of central-line infections in pediatric and coronary intensive care units among New York hospitals, as opposed to the rest of the nation. However, New York hospitals display higher rates in surgical intensive care units.
AHA News Reports: Tennessee Hospitals Announce Payment Policy for Certain Adverse Events
The Tennessee Hospital Association has approved a policy recommending hospitals in the state not to seek payment for care related to certain serious adverse events- if the hospital deems the event was preventable.
From Modern Healthcare News: California’s health insurers trade group is supporting the prohibition on reimbursing providers on “never events”.
The board for the California Association of Health Plans unanimously passed a decision in favor of no longer paying for eight never events.
The California Association is also endorsing a bill that would prohibit providers from billing payers for adverse events that cause the death or injury of a patient.
From the Modern Healthcare News: Massachusetts will no longer pay for care related to serious hospital errors (“never-events”).
They will end reimbursement for care related to 28 serious reportable events, defined by the National Quality Forum (NQF).
More on Article: Massachusetts to halt payment for ‘never events’
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Jaz-Michael King directs health care transparency at IPRO, a non-profit health care quality improvement organization. This blog is updated by Jaz and members of the transparency team. If you would like help with your transparency efforts, please visit IPRO eServices.
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