National Hospital Comparison Tool Launched

April 4, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Services have launched a comparison tool for the nation's hospitals.

Hospital Compare, a Web-based tool available at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov , went live Friday, and allows users to compare 98% of the nation’s hospitals on 10 best practices criteria. The information is derived from responses given by 4,200 hospitals.

All of the measures are related to treatment of heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The measures were created by CMS and other stakeholders in the industry such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the National Quality Forum, and the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality.

The system follows the lead of similar ones set up for nursing homes and home health care agencies, according to businessinsurance.com.

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