Are Hospital Ratings a Mess, a Message, or Both?

Misdiagnoised

My daughter who was 21 was misdiagnoised with seziure disorder by Good sam hospital Er room on Nov. 17 2006,and realeased.The doctor there assured us it was not meningitis Her symtoms included fever vommitting head ache confussion lower level of consisness numness in arms and legs and a first time seziure she arrived by ambulance. The next day I took her to the nearest clinic as she was still very ill. They diagnoised her with a flu and also said it was not meningitis and released her. That night she was taken to another er by ambulance where a lumbar puncturewas performed and was possitive for viral meningitis and herpes simplex enephalitismy daughter responded at first and the doctors were hopeful that treatment was started in time as this disease requires promt diagnosis and treatment she went into cardiac arrest on Nov.22 and life support withdrawn on the 23

I filed a complaint with Wash. State Dept. of Health as well with Good Sam Hospital.

The State concluded that no actions be taken against the Er doctor I appealed but was denied. They concluded that the clinic doctor DID NOT provide proper medical care and because this doctor aggred with the stipulations he only had to pay a 1000 fine take a education class on the symtoms of this disease and write a assay on what he learned.

Good Sam hospital concluded that because he was a independant employee they could not take action but would heighten their er doctors on the symtoms of this disease.

My daughter died because of their neglagence and this is the only action that was taken.

There is no way for the public to know of this unless they look up the credintals and that only shows that action was taken on DR. Stone who worked at the clinic but nothing on DR. Woodard who was the Er doctor.

Both these doctors still hold a license to practice medicine.And nothing to inform the public of their practices.

Until we change the way Doctors are investigated which is by their peers and hold them more accountable for their actions we are all at risk and will continue to have devestating results.

Missing My Daughter

23% of Consumers have used "quality data" when making a decision

I've been following this discussion and appreciate everyone's opinion. I would like to share with you that in 2008 our firm, (Professional Research Consultsnts, PRC, which has worked with over 1,800 hospitals across the country the last 30 years in measuring patient and consumer perceptions) conducted a national survey of 1,000 respondents and we found that 23% of the consumers say they have used hospital quality data when choosing a hospital.

While I apprciate the entertainment value of the poll that was attached to this blog, keep in mind it is not representative of the adults in the US and it's findings only represent the opinion of those individuals who are reading this blog and chose to respond to the poll question.

Public Reporting Has Value

Thanks to US News for their commitment to informing the public about the quality of their health care. This effort, combined with many other initiatives across the country, will help move the health information field forward.

I was pleased with your online poll that indicated 60 percent of respondents use hospital quality information to make a hospital decision. Younger people that use the Internet are more likely to seek health information than an older, Medicare population that, in general, trusts the system (or the government oversight) to police itself. A couple of points on this topic are worth noting:

1. Public reporting, albeit imperfect, does result in provider and system improvements---even if consumers are not the main users of the information. Even good hospitals may not know how they perform relative to their competitors without such public reports.

2. Refining risk adjustment methods takes a great deal of time and effort---which we really do not have as the system continues to collapse--and risk adjustment taken to extremes may even reward fragmented and disorganized care. We must move beyond arguing over data and methods and reform a broken and inefficient system.

Use of the information today will improve that information going forward. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of 'good enough' to spur improvements we need today!

How about asking the patients and their families?

Hospitals have a way of hiding data and medical reports written with a bias to protect the hospital and staff. Examples: My father had MRSA pneumonia and was very ill, but this information was withheld from the rehab hospital he was transferred to. The first hospital has a "good" rating. He probably got the MRSA because his immune system was depressed by being off his thyroid medication for over a month that the was totally dependent on because of doctor error. A week later they realized what was wrong through testing, but a week of no treatment can be fatal, which it was. The rehab hospital gave the thryoid replacement together with meds that contain iron, thereby binding the thyroid and making it biologically unavailable to the body. My mother got C.Diff infection from a colonoscopy and the doctor putting her on Cleocin (clindamycin)to which she had an allergic reaction, but the nurse forgot to record that it had been discontinued so it was restarted at the hospital. The surgeon who did exploratory surgery only realized she had a massive C.Diff infection after he operated and made the decision to remove her colon instead of trying antibiotics and ruined her life. He told us about the C.Diff infection after surgery, but did not put it in the operative report. The pathologist also did not put it in his report. After surgery, the infectious disease doctor put her back on clindamycin and the surgeon had to write a note to him explaining C.Diff and to use metronidazole, not Cleocin, which is like pouring gasoline on a fire. You have to remember that hospitals have their best interests and liability at heart, not that of the patient. They're experts at cover-ups. Medical people are terrified at the thought of being a patient in a hospital because they know all the stupid mistakes that are made.

These ratings should include patient and or family ratings who have experienced the quality of care for a health care facility.

Time would be better spent in hospitals on constant hand-washing and disinfecting of surfaces than on trying to lobby a better spot in a "ranking".

Your government, if anyone, ought to be certifying your hospitals. "Consumers" are hardly in a position to be picky these days.

Many have no insurance, and most others will go the hospital they're told by their "network" to go to.