Summary: We are often asked about quality rankings systems in health care: Which ones are good? Which are bad? Why don’t we include quality along with prices on our site? Our answer: We are excited to see people working on measuring quality, but the quality measurements draw such different conclusions that you almost want to rate the ratings systems. Beyond that, if we decided we wouldn’t reveal prices until we had what we thought were good quality ratings, we might never reveal prices. In one sense, quality rankings have tried to precede price revelations, but that hasn’t completely worked. So we’re revealing prices, in the hopes that the conversation will change a bit: What makes that $6,000 MRI 20 times better than the $300 one? Others have misgivings about quality rankings, too. Click through for another opinion, or ….
“Many third-party organizations rate hospital quality, but healthcare leaders are finding limited value in the plethora of grades, stars, and rankings,” Jacqueline Fellows wrote in for HealthLeaders Media, August 12, 2014. Here are the first few paragraphs; please click through and read the entire piece.
“The crowded field of hospital rankings, ratings, lists, and grades elicits strong opinions from both the organizations attempting to measure and rate quality, and the organizations that are on the receiving end of letter grades, star designations, and appearances on top-10 lists.
“Critics of these proliferating hospital evaluations have a laundry list of complaints: The methods aren’t transparent enough, consumers don’t pay attention, and the grade, rating, or ranking given out doesn’t match up with other public reports. But for every critic, there is also a proponent, and pointing out statistical shortcomings is a losing battle, says Mark Chassin, MD, FACP, MPP, MPH, president of CEO of The Joint Commission, an Oakbrook, Illinois–based organization that accredits and certifies more than 20,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States.” Jacqueline Fellows, for HealthLeaders Media, August 12, 2014 More Rankings, Less Value?.
