HealthGrades is a free online resource for finding and reviewing physicians and hospitals. They have just released a report entitled 2014 Report to the Nation, which is “designed to arm Americans with unbiased, data-driven information to help consumers make informed healthcare choices. This information is available to the public free-of-charge.
The report analyzed 40 million Medicare patient records from 4,500 hospitals nationwide performed over the last three years for the 31 of the most common procedures and diagnoses (e.g., heart attack, stroke, pneumonia, colorectal surgery, COPD) to assess individuals risk of death or complication based on the hospitals performance in that specific field.
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HealthGrades rates hospitals and physicians on thier site. Access is free and the site is easy to operate and navigate.
In shopping for health insurance plans, quality of hospitals and physicians is important. HealthGrades strategic advisor, Dr Archelle Georgiou explains,
“Consumers need accurate information to make meaningful choices between plans. With the Affordable Care Act expanding access to care, it’s more important than ever to understand your options, including the quality of care offered at the hospitals and affiliated physicians in your plan.”
Below is a cool infographic showing the advantages of using HealthGrades to shop for a quality healthcare plan:
Watch the following interview as Dr Georgiou talks more about why it is important to think about quality when shopping for a healthcare plan:
