The first scorecard ranking U.S. hospitals on the value of care they provide their patients found the vast majority of hospitals offer high quality healthcare, but the price for essentially the same care varies widely across the country and even across the same community.
The 2008 Hospital Value Index was unveiled today at the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s annual conference in Las Vegas.
The study – which includes in-depth analysis and national and local market rankings of America’s best value hospitals – is available without charge at www.HospitalValueIndex.com.
Findings
In its analysis of 1,500 hospitals, the 2008 Hospital Value Index(TM) also found that:
— A number of hospitals with a reputation for offering high quality care do not necessarily provide high value care. Conversely, a number of lesser known hospitals – including several public or “safety-net” hospitals – provide high value care.
— High value care can be offered by hospitals regardless of ownership, size, teaching status, geography or demographics. The Hospital Value Index(TM) found none of these are guarantees of high value care – or of poor value care.
— If all of the 1,500 hospitals studied were to perform at levels consistent with those ranked as “best value hospitals,” then approximately $273 billion in excess charges would be removed from the healthcare delivery system by hospitals alone.
Hospital Value Index(TM)
The study was developed by Data Advantage, LLC (www.data-advantage.com) in anticipation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Value-Based Purchasing initiative, which proposes to financially reward a hospital based on the value of its care beginning next year. It also recognizes the growing influence of consumers shopping for the best hospital values in their communities.
“Given the federal government’s new Value-Based Purchasing initiative, it is essential for hospital leaders to look beyond quality and outcomes to define their value to the community,” said Hal Andrews, Chief Executive Officer at Data Advantage, which developed the scorecard.
“CMS has proposed rewarding both excellent performance and also improvements from a baseline score. With the Hospital Value Index(TM), hospitals will have an all-encompassing score to understand where they excel and where they can improve.”
The Hospital Value Index(TM) is also a resource for healthcare consumers to compare the value of hospitals, Andrews said. Where the quality of care between hospitals is relatively equal, the Hospital Value Index(TM) will identify the hospital that is more affordable. Where the price between hospitals is the same, the Hospital Value Index(TM) will reveal the one with better quality.
The Hospital Value Index(TM) analyzed more than 1,500 general acute-care hospitals in America’s 100 largest cities, serving approximately 180 million consumers. It defines a hospital’s “value” by its success in four critical areas:
— Quality of its care, including core processes and patient safety;
— Efficiency of its care and affordability, including the prices it charges;
— Experience encountered by its patients as measured by patient satisfaction; and
— Comprehensive reputation of a hospital as measured by local public perception.
“In an environment in which consumers – including patients, employers and payers – shoulder an increasing burden of the cost of healthcare, it is important to recognize those hospitals that deliver outstanding value,” said John R. Morrow, a founder of 100 Top Hospitals: Benchmarks for Success, and a senior advisor to Data Advantage.
“These consumers increasingly want a score that considers everything we publicly know – and they care about – when choosing a hospital. The Hospital Value Index(TM) provides the first go-to source for that complete analysis.”
Behind the Hospital Value Index(TM)
The Hospital Value Index(TM) uses the latest objective, publicly available data to specifically measure the key elements that healthcare consumers consider when choosing a hospital. As a dynamic scorecard, the Hospital Value Index(TM) will be continually updated as new data and resources become available.
“The Hospital Value Index(TM) was born of our shared interests in making sense of the overwhelming amounts of healthcare measurement and information available today,” said David Potash M.D., MBA, Data Advantage’s Chief Medical Officer.
“We want to recognize the great efforts and value that hospitals already deliver and provide hospitals the information they need to make improvements.”
For a complete list of findings, market-by-market hospital scores, and more information on the Hospital Value Index(TM), please visit www.HospitalValueIndex.com.
About Data Advantage, LLC
Data Advantage, LLC is a healthcare information company that specializes in providing the healthcare and business communities with independent and objective information resources for improved business intelligence. Since 1992, more than 1,000 hospitals and other businesses have looked to Data Advantage for information solutions. For more information, please visit www.data-advantage.com or call (502) 779-4990.
Editor’s note: Representatives of the media are invited to attend a conference call (1-800-860-2442) with the founders of the Hospital Value Index(TM) at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT on June 24.
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