More Patients Travel to Higher-Quality Hospitals

An "increasing number" of patients are traveling to receive care at "top-notch hospitals in the hopes of a better outcome," the Wall Street Journal reports.

In response to the trend, more medical centers have begun to publish online information about survival and complication rates for different procedures to allow patients to compare outcomes at their local hospitals with facilities nationwide. More medical centers also have begun "doing more to make life easier for those who move far away for care," the Journal reports.

For example, some medical centers arrange hotel accommodations, medical appointments and transportation for such patients, and other facilities allow such patients to live in communities with others who have the same conditions (Petersen, Wall Street Journal, 10/9).