SPRINGFIELD – The Hospital Report Card and Consumer Guide to Health Care Web site has been updated with new and additional information about pediatric care, healthcare-associated infections and emergency room data. The Web site includes inpatient and outpatient data comparing volume of cases, average charges, mortality rates, complications and hospital associated infections.
“To help Illinoisans make better decisions about their choice of hospital or health care provider, they need information about the quality of care offered by these facilities. The Hospital Report Card and Consumer Guide to Health Care Web site allows consumers to find average costs for specific medical procedures, nurse staffing levels at hospitals and general quality of care information,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Damon T. Arnold.
The Hospital Report Card Act requires all Illinois hospitals to report nurse staffing numbers, infection prevention measures and hospital acquired infections data to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The Consumer Guide to Health Care contains information from hospitals and ambulatory surgical treatment centers about conditions, procedures, variations in charges and quality of care.
New information added to the Web site includes:
· Six months of Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection from Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care units.
· Pediatric quality care indicators.
· Emergency room visit volume (inpatient and outpatient), percent of time on bypass and percent of patients who left against medical advice or before completing treatment.
· 2009 Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile statewide aggregate report
· Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services mortality and readmission data
Updates to existing data in the following areas:
· All Agency for Health Care Research and Quality indicators.
· Surgical Care Improvement Project measures.
· Nurse staffing – nursing hours for intensive care units (ICU), medical-surgical units and maternal-child units. Nursing turnover information is also included.
· Patient satisfaction.
· Services – inpatient and outpatient conditions, and procedures and charges for both hospitals and ambulatory surgical treatment centers.
The site also offers hospitals and surgical treatment centers the opportunity to identify quality and safety improvements by comparing information with other facilities. The site will be routinely updated with the most recent data available.
The Illinois Department of Public Health’s Division of Patient Safety and Quality promotes health care transparency and is responsible for developing and implementing programs to collect and report health care provider data for improving the quality and value of health care services delivered to Illinois residents.
Access to the Hospital Report Card and Consumer Guide to Health Care can be found at www.idph.state.il.us or www.healthcarereportcard.illinois.gov.