Patient Satisfaction Not Gauge of Hospitals’ Performance

More than 120 hospitals with high patient satisfaction ratings also have higher than average mortality rates for certain conditions, according to newly released CMS data. The data, published Friday on HHS' Hospital Compare website, include three years of information from patients at more than 4,600 U.S. hospitals. The data focus on risk-adjusted readmission and 30-day mortality rates for myocardial infarction, heart failure and pneumonia patients treated between July 1, 2007, and June 30, 2010. The facilities that reported above-average mortality rates for the three conditions received high ratings from patients on CMS' Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers survey. For example, these facilities received at least a nine out of 10 patient satisfaction score or were recommended by two-thirds of patients.

• "Medicare Data Show Gap in Hospital Performance, Perception" (Sternberg/Schnaars [1], USA Today, 8/5).
• "Medicare Data Can Help Patients Fill Perception Gap" (Sternberg/Schnaars [2], USA Today, 8/5).
• "Compare Hospitals on Heart Attack, Heart Failure and Pneumonia" (Couch et al., USA Today, 8/5).
• "Delaware Hospitals Rank Among Best, Worst in U.S." (Ratnayake, Wilmington News Journal, 8/5).