Variation in hospital report cards clouds evaluation

Variation in the methodology and results of government, not-for-profit and for-profit hospitals hinders the ability to accurately measure performance, according to a report from the Health Association of New York State (HANYS).

The association evaluated 10 hospital report cards or grades on hospital performance and found that each organization uses a different approach in assessing their quality improvement efforts. These reports often prove difficult to replicate and incorporate into internal hospital quality improvement work due to the variation of scores and methodologies. As a result, managing the influx of conflicting quality information can drain hospital staff time and financial resources, according to the report.

“More and more organizations are entering the quality measurement field, generating a proliferation of varied scoring that instead of assisting patients and providers in evaluating healthcare quality, serves more to bewilder them," said Dennis Whalen, president, HANYS. Whalen said hospitals need to embrace a more standardized, accurate and clinically-based method of measuring and comparing hospital quality.

Read the entire report here.