Press Release: May 2008

Hospital Compare information with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Phelps Memorial Health Center has voluntarily shared information about clinical care with the public in a website called Hospital Compare, which went live in 2005. At this website, consumers can find information about most hospitals in the United States. The goal of the website is to give consumers a broad look at the quality of hospital care.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administers the website and is promoting the Hospital Quality Alliance's (HQA) web site Hospital Compare (http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) through newspaper advertising this week.

The website was first set up to rank core measures, which uses a set of standardized questions revolving around how hospitals treat heart failure, pneumonia and outpatients, to name a few. The reporting of core measures provides another tool for patients to make an informed decision on which health care facility to use.

Recently, Hospital Compare added patient satisfaction scores to their reporting. This set of patient reports is voluntary, as opposed to the mandatory reporting of core measures.

According to hospital CEO Mark Harrel, the patient satisfaction scores received by Phelps Memorial Health Center are honorable scores, but the facility strives for continuous improvement. He said Phelps Memorial is continuously working to improve the patient experience and the patient scores.

"The scoring and percentages used by Hospital Compare are just one way to look at the care patients receive at Phelps Memorial," Mr. Harrel said. “We strive to offer personalized care and work to meet the needs of the patients and their families. We will continue to work to reach higher goals.”

"As with any survey, using just a couple of questions to try to tell the entire story ends up with an incomplete picture," he said. "I encourage everyone to go to the Hospital Compare website to see all the questions and returns and to learn a more complete picture about Phelps Memorial Health Center and other hospitals."

The two statistics chosen to represent the hospitals are the percent of patients who reported that they "Always" received help as soon as they wanted and the percent of patients who received preventative antibiotic(s) one hour before surgery.

Area hospitals scored as follows in those categories:

"A score of which we are particularly proud on this survey is that 78% of the patient surveyed reported YES, they would definitely recommend Phelps Memorial Health Center to their friends and family," Mr. Harrel said.