Patients can now go to Medicare's Hospital Compare Web site to see how hospitals are doing in preventing certain adverse events and infections.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is providing data on eight hospital-acquired conditions: vascular catheter-associated bloodstream infections; catheter-associated urinary tract infections; blood incompatibility; pressure ulcers stages III and IV; air embolism; objects left in the patient after surgery; injuries during a hospital stay such as falls and trauma; and manifestations of poor glycemic control.
The CMS began collecting data on these conditions in 2007, and since 2008, Medicare has refused to provide additional payment if one of these conditions occurs during the patient's hospital stay. Each of the eight conditions is costly and happens frequently during inpatient stays for Medicare patients, according to the agency. The conditions were also chosen because Medicare officials consider them to be reasonably preventable through the use of evidence-based guidelines.
Data from October 2008 through June 2010 are available through a downloadable file on the Hospital Compare Web site. The CMS plans to integrate the data directly into the site framework later this year.