Hospitals
Ranking hospitals based on quality rather than cost often yields different results with little overlap, forcing patients to decide which factor is more important when choosing a hospital, according to a study reported in Health Services Research.
Researchers found that most hospitals with high-quality rankings did not have lower costs, while the majority of hospitals with the lowest overall costs were not ranked high on quality measures. The authors also compared two common methods for ranking hospitals that integrate quality and cost measures and found different results.
The study concluded that new approaches are needed for rating hospitals based on cost and quality measures to improve affordability and quality of care for consumers (Rosenthal et al., Health Services Research, December 2007).