Are There Too Many Hospital Rankings?
March 27, 2013Where can you go to find one list that names the “best cars”? The answer, of course, is obvious. There isn’t one. What does “best” mean — best for short commutes or for interstate cruising? Best for a 16-year-old who just got her license or for a middle-aged male looking for fun? Best for reliability or for fuel economy? Just as with cars, no single set of ratings or evaluations can adequately define hospital quality. A hospital that does a fine job delivering babies or performing routine bypass surgery may not be where to look for delicate lifesaving cancer surgery or state-of-the-art care for cystic fibrosis. A Kaiser Health News story raises the question, not for the first time, of whether the public is confused rather than guided by this proliferation of hospital rankings, ratings and reports. Read more