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By John Perry
It’s bound to happen to you. One of these days, you’ll have to go to the hospital. But will you know which one?
Have you ever wondered which is best for a hip replacement surgery? Mastectomy? To have a baby?
“A patient should know how a hospital compares with others in their geographical area in treating their specific condition,” said Debby Peale, director of St. Luke’s physician network development.
There are several tools, including the BlueCross BlueShield of Texas Hospital Comparison Tool, that you can use to do some preadmission homework.
Members can research and compare hospitals and data on specific diagnoses and procedures.
“We want our members to make the most informed decisions possible,” said Caryn Ayers, HMO Blue Texas city of Houston account manager.
Access the comparison tool through www.bcbstx.com. Register for Blue Access for Members user name and password to enter the home page. Click on My Health. Arrive at My Health – Tools. Go to Compare Hospitals by clicking on the Select Quality Care logo. Under Overview, click on the camera logo to watch a short video about the Hospital Comparison Tool. Then click on the procedure and type your zip code and the geographical radius you want to include in your search from five to 1,000 miles. Use the data to make a more informed decision about choosing the best hospital within your health plan.
Patient safety
The Leapfrog Group hospital survey is a consortium of more than 130 large companies that are collecting data on patient safety. It reports health care outcomes on the U.S. health care system including 10 hospitals in the BCBS of Texas network:
Leapfrog asks hospitals to complete a survey on quality and safety practices. Use the information to make a more informed decision regarding your choice of hospitals.
- CPOE – Computerized Physician Order Entry system
- ICU staffing
- High risk treatments
- Leapfrog safe practices score – scores based on 27 safety practices promoting patient safety
You can search the Leapfrog hospital information by hospital name, zip code, city or state. Not all hospitals in your geographic search may have responded to the survey.
Visit Leapfrog Group at www.leapfroggroup.org/home. Click on For Consumers. Arrive at Consumers page. Then click on “Click here to find Leapfrog’s ratings of hospital quality.” If using zip codes, your search can include a radius of one to 200 miles.
Leapfrog hospital survey results within a 100-mile radius of City Hall, including 10 hospitals in the BCBS of Texas network: Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, Conroe Regional Medical Center, East Houston Regional Medical Center, Houston Northwest Medical Center, Kingwood Medical Center, Park Plaza Hospital, Spring Branch Medical Center, Texas Orthopedic Hospital, the Women’s Hospital of Texas and West Houston Medical Center.
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