State-by-State Guide to Health Care Provider Performance

By: Christopher J. Gearon; Source: AARP Bulletin Date Posted: 2006-12-07 15:23:00-05:00

Before getting medical care—whether it's having a knee or hip replaced or another nonemergency treatment—it's helpful to know how a particular hospital, even physician, performs compared to other providers. Checking out a provider's quality performance becomes increasingly important as individuals take on more health care decision-making in the era of consumer-driven health care.

Increasingly, federal and state governments, along with employer and consumer organizations, are making easier the difficult task of determining the quality of health care providers. Recognizing the need to provide consumers with more performance information, many states are providing Web-based tools to help consumers locate the best hospital or physician for their medical treatment and care. The type and amount of information made available electronically varies by state.

Even if your state doesn't yet offer its own comprehensive data—or if you simply want other resources to help with your research—you can turn to the easy-to-use Hospital Compare tool, maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The tool allows consumers to get information about hospitals in their area and their quality of treatment for certain medical conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, by using available data. It also highlights how well each facility does in preventing surgical infections. The website has hospital information, quality measures and patient tools.

Here are other sources to check out:

The Leapfrog Group, a group representing the millions of employees of more than 70 companies and organizations that buy health care, rates hospitals on how they are doing on several key measures of improving patient safety. Consumers can search for hospital rankings with the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey Results, where you can search for hospital information by your ZIP code.
Quality Check, a service of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, allows consumers to see and compare the quality and patient safety performance of local hospitals.
DocInfo.org, a fee-based service offered by the Federation of State Medical Boards, provides consumers "with professional information on physicians and physician assistants licensed in the United States and includes information on disciplinary sanctions, education, medical specialty, licensure history and locations." A directory of state medical boards may provide you with access to free information through your state's board.

Meanwhile, good sources of health care quality information can be found at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality consumer site. For more information on identifying a local hospital that's best for you, see AARP The Magazine Online's story on the subject.

Alabama

Alabama does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Alaska

Alaska does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Arizona

Arizona does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Arkansas

Arkansas does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

California

California's Department of Managed Health Care collaborates with the Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA) to address health care issues. The OPA issues a Healthcare Quality Report Card that allows the patient to see how medical groups, or physician groups, by county are rated based on the quality of care and customer service.

California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development in 2006 released its Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Outcomes Report, which highlights the quality ratings of all 121 California hospitals that performed CABG in 2003. You can also download this report as a PDF. In 2007, the state plans to release quality ratings based on surgeon performance. The office also has links to other quality initiatives. The Medical Board of California each month publishes a "hot sheet" listing the administrative actions taken against physicians licensed in the state. Check the most recent monthly newsletter on its site for details.

The Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), a California business coalition of 50 large health care purchasers seeking to improve the quality of health care, has developed a tool called HealthScope for Californians to compare doctors, hospitals, health plans and medical groups. PBGH's HealthScope Hospital Ratings report card gives ratings for general care and heart care by county. The analysis doesn't cover all hospitals or sites because it measures only hospitals that volunteered to have independent experts rate their quality. Healthscope's Medical Group Ratings report card is based on reports by more than 50,000 Californians, divided by county. The analysis doesn't cover all medical groups because it measures only groups that volunteered to have independent experts rate their quality. Consumers can search for their doctor to locate their medical group.

Consumers also can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections.

Colorado

While the state does not rate hospital or physician performance, Colorado consumers can check out the quality of their hospitals through the Colorado Business Group on Health. The group has an online Hospital Quality Guide that shows how Colorado hospitals perform in key areas of patient safety and quality, developed by the national patient safety organization, The Leapfrog Group.

Meanwhile, Colorado residents can find out how local hospitals perform in treating a range of conditions, from heart attacks to hip fractures, at Colorado Hospital Quality, a website offered through the Colorado Health and Hospital Association and the federal government.

Connecticut

Connecticut's Department of Public Health has an annual Hospital Performance Comparison Report that examines all adult general acute-care hospitals in the state on several measures, including quality of care for patients diagnosed with a heart attack, heart failure, or pneumonia. This report includes separate links showing figures and tables for performance measures that are organized by hospital name.

Meanwhile, the Connecticut Hospital Association releases much of the same information for non-profit hospitals on a more timely quarterly basis. You can download the most recent report as a PDF.

Delaware

Delaware does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

District of Columbia

The District of Columbia does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

The District's Department of Health, however, lists enforcement actions taken against hospitals, including the name of the facility, the date and the fine levied.

Florida

Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration offers a website, Florida Health Stat, that purports to "ultimately give Florida's health care consumers, purchasers and professionals an unprecedented degree of easy-to-access and understandable information on quality, pricing and performance." At Florida Compare Care, consumers can now access performance and outcome data and information on selected medical conditions and procedures at Florida hospitals and ambulatory surgery outpatient centers.

Consumers can also get basic physician licensing and complaint information on Florida doctors at Florida Health Stat. They can find the lowest local prices for prescription drugs at Rx Drug Price Finder. Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Financial Services provides consumers with medical malpractice claims information on Florida health care providers.

Floridians also can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections.

Georgia

Georgia doesn't rate the performance of hospitals or physicians, but the state's Partnership for Health and Accountability provides consumers with several resources to compare hospital quality on several measures. The site also advertises a soon-to-be-launched hospital price check.

Georgians also can compare hospital performance with the Hospital Compare tool, which allows consumers to get information about hospitals in their area and their quality of treatment for certain medical conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The website has hospital information, quality measures and patient tools.

Hawaii

Hawaii does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Idaho

Idaho does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Illinois

Illinois does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Indiana

The Indiana State Department of Health offers two sites, Hospital Consumer Reports and Ambulatory Surgical Center Consumer Reports, allowing site visitors to search by city or county for quality-related information by facility. The department inspects hospitals and surgical centers to assess compliance with state and federal standards and generates the reports once a month. Consumers can evaluate and compare facilities on available services, hospital staffing, state survey results, complaints, accreditation status and the last federal certification survey.

Hoosiers also can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections.

Iowa

Iowa does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Kansas

Kansas does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Kentucky

Kentucky does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Louisiana

Louisiana does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Maine

Maine does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

The Maine Hospital Association rates the treatment of patients in 17 areas (including physician care, general care, admission and overall inpatient care experience) at each of Maine's hospitals in Caring for Our Communities: Patient Satisfaction with Maine Hospitals. The report includes a star rating system for how each hospital performed in each category.

Maryland

Maryland's Health Care Commission (MHCC) offers several consumer resources, including guides on the performance of hospitals and ambulatory surgery facilities. The Hospital Guide helps you find a hospital that provides a high quality of care for specific medical conditions or to compare hospital performance in areas that include heart conditions, lung ailments, surgeries, maternity and newborn care, and other conditions. You also can find hospital prices and other information on this site.

The Maryland Ambulatory Surgery Facility Consumer Guide lets users get basic information about facilities and specialists performing a wide range of procedures. Consumers can search by Zip Code or facility name to find a list of questions to ask when choosing a facility. The site also gives tips on obtaining additional information and the steps to take when you have a complaint.

Consumers also can use the Hospital Compare tool, which allows consumers to get information about hospitals in their area and the quality of their treatment for certain medical conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The website has hospital information, quality measures and patient tools.

Massachusetts

The state's Office of Health and Human Services offers consumers a robust Health Care Cost & Quality Information website, allowing visitors to see and compare hospitals, as well as specialists in dozens of medical procedures and conditions. Users can search by medical topic, hospital, physician or by most current reports. The site allows consumers to see quality and/or cost information on specific providers. The hospital cost and quality reports are particularly user-friendly.

The state's Group Insurance Commission (GIC) offers the Leapfrog Hospital Report Card so users can assess how Massachusetts hospitals performed on a number of important quality measures, particularly on preventing medical mistakes in the hospital. The information on hospitals in is the second half of the report and includes information from the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey Results. The GIC also offers a hospital research tool for GIC enrollees with Subimo's Healthcare Advisor, which provides condition- or disease-specific hospital comparisons. But users first have to enroll as GIC members.

Also check out the state Board of Registration in Medicine's Physician Profile site.

Consumers also can use the Hospital Compare tool to get information about hospitals in their area and their quality of treatment for certain medical conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The website has hospital information, quality measures and patient tools.

Michigan

Michigan does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Meanwhile, a multi-stakeholder regional coalition, the Greater Detroit Area Health Council, offers consumers a way to compare hospital performance in southeast Michigan with its Save Lives, Save Dollars Health Care Performance Report. The interactive report compares hospital performance in heart attack and pneumonia treatment, patient safety initiatives, and other areas.

Minnesota

Minnesota offers residents a way to check out pricing and the quality of hospitals and other health care providers at Minnesota Health Information. Consumers also can check out the quality of medical groups in the state and access many other resources. Minnesota Health Information was created by the state, relying heavily on private organizations' efforts to determine health care quality and performance.

Minnesota's Department of Health offers a search engine to locate Minnesota's licensed, registered or certified health care providers by provider type and either location or name. While the database provides mostly general information plus federal certification classifications, it is updated daily so it also provides current license status.

Mississippi

Mississippi does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

The Mississippi State Department of Health issues an annual Report on Hospitals, which provides some general information about each hospital, as well as statistics such as selected utilization statistics for acute care.

Missouri

Missouri does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Montana

Montana does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

The state does let consumers check out Survey Inspection Results of hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and other facilities.

Nebraska

Nebraska does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Nevada

Nevada does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

New Jersey

New Jersey's Department of Health and Senior Services offers a Health Care Quality Assessment section on its website, devoted to several health quality initiatives. Consumers can review several consumer report cards regarding health care in New Jersey. The Guide to New Jersey Hospitals compares the performance of hospitals in treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. In the cardiac surgery report, you can read the results of a study comparing patient mortality rates for New Jersey hospitals and physicians performing bypass surgery.

The Health Care Payers Coalition of New Jersey offers patients information on finding quality care in the state and also has physician profiles.

New Mexico

New Mexico does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

New York

New York offers patients several reports to help select specific doctors or hospitals. The state Department of Health's Hospitals in New York State page is a gateway providing information on hospitals, from finding performance data on several measures to filing and reading complaints to getting patient rights information. The Hospital Profile site allows you to search for facilities' quality measures and other details.

New Yorkers can also find out how hospitals and physicians performed on a host of cardiac procedures in "Adult Cardiac Surgery in New York State." The publication provides information on risk factors associated with bypass surgery, including mortality rates listed by hospital and physicians.

New York also offers a New York State Physician Profile, which provides information on doctors' medical education, translation services at their offices and legal actions taken against them. You can search by a doctor's name. On the profile, doctors have the option of providing other information about themselves. The Health Department also offers an option to search for professional misconduct and physician discipline on specific doctors, or you can select a view of all public final actions posted.

Consumers can also use the Hospital Compare tool to get information about hospitals in their area and the quality of their treatment for certain medical conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The website has hospital information, quality measures and patient tools.

North Carolina

North Carolina The North Carolina Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety produced several hospital quality performance reports. The reports help patients compare the quality of health care in North Carolina hospitals and provide resources to help consumers make good decisions about health care. Reports can be viewed as graphs, tables or PDF format.

North Dakota

North Dakota does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Ohio

The Ohio Department of Health has a Consumer Guide to Hospital Reports, which provides information on inpatient utilization and charges for several medical conditions. Consumers can search for hospitals by county.

Consumers also can use the Hospital Compare tool, which allows adults to get information about hospitals in their area and the quality of their treatment for certain medical conditions, such as heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. The website has hospital information, quality measures and patient tools.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Oregon

Oregon does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Pennsylvania

The independent state agency Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) offers consumers several interactive resources for viewing hospital and physician performance, including Interactive Hospital Performance Reports. Consumers can quickly view the performance of hospitals on nearly 50 common procedures and treatments, easily seeing a specific hospital's volume, death rate, complications, length of stay, rating and average charge for specific procedures.

Other consumer-friendly databases produced by PHC4 include the Pennsylvania Guide to Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery, an interactive resource where individuals can find performance information for surgeons and hospitals performing the surgery, and the Total Hip and Knee Replacements database, which allows patients to search by hospital or surgeon, as well as hospital volume by surgeon and surgeon volume by hospital. The council also publishes county profiles on inpatient and ambulatory/outpatient facilities, a diabetes hospitalization report and other guides.

Consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections.

Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Department of Health's Performance Measurement & Reporting website offers several reports and resources to consumers trying to ascertain performance by several kinds of health care providers, including hospitals. In the hospitals report, you can see how well hospitals in your area care for their adult patients suffering from heart conditions, pneumonia and other problems. Links to patient satisfaction and financial issues are also available.

The department's Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline offers public access to crucial information about Rhode Island physicians, including disciplinary actions, licensure and complaint information.

South Carolina

South Carolina does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

South Dakota

South Dakota does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Tennessee

Tennessee does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Meanwhile, the Memphis Business Group on Health (MBGH), a not-for-profit organization, was selected by The Leapfrog Group to lead the metro-Memphis regional roll-out of their program to improve quality and cost-effectiveness at hospitals. MBGH said most metro-Memphis hospitals have reported their progress in meeting those standards, which can be seen at the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey Results. You can search for hospital information by your Zip Code. Some of their data is in a members-only format.

Texas

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) issues several comparative reports on hospitals, including a searchable hospital database that allows users to see a specific hospital's performance—including volume death and complication rates—on treating several conditions. The site also allows visitors to see hospital performance in treating 25 common diagnoses, although the data on this particular report is outdated.

The DSHS also has implemented the Texas Cardiovascular Quality Recognition Program, which "seeks to improve patient outcomes" by awarding "physicians and hospitals for implementing and monitoring secondary prevention guidelines for cardiovascular disease and improving standards of care." Click on the physician and hospital links to see which providers have received awards.

The Texas Hospital Checkup, sponsored by Texas Business Group on Health and the Dallas-Fort Worth Business Group on Health, allows visitors to compare hospitals on heart care and childbirth. However, they warn the comparisons may not be completely fair, due to varying methods of coding by hospitals and other factors.

Utah

MyHealthCare in Utah, sponsored by the Utah Department of Health, is designed to help consumers make informed decisions about their medical care. The site lets you compare number of procedures, death rates, charges and other information on knee, hip and heart-related surgeries and procedures, as well as how hospitals perform when it comes to maternity and newborn care. The page also lets you check out what each hospital charges for more than 60 procedures.

From MyHealthCare in Utah, consumers also can find a doctor and verify his or her license, get patient safety tips and file complaints.

Utah's Office of Health Care Statistics offers several reports and guides on health care facilities in the state, including information on hospital and ambulatory surgery center utilization and charges by specific facility on frequently performed procedures.

Vermont

The Vermont Department of Health provides consumers with Physician Profile Reports for physicians licensed in the state. You can find quality-related information on specific physicians, including education and training backgrounds, restrictions or disciplinary actions taken against them, malpractice claims, hospital affiliations, authored publications, activities and other information.

Vermont does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Virginia

The Virginia Department of Health Professions offers links for consumers to look up physician licenses, physician profiles and other information. The Virginia Board of Medicine offers Virginia Health Provider Search, a database of state- and self-reported information on providers, from specialty area and board certification status to legal and disciplinary actions taken against specific providers. You can search by name, location, languages spoken, or within the professions of doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy and doctor of podiatric medicine.

Virginia Health Information (VHI), an employer coalition, offers several performance reports on Virginia providers, including Cardiac Care Reports. "VHI's reports include how often hospitals provide cardiac care and the outcomes of care (rate of in-hospital death and 30-day readmission rates.)" VHI also publishes reports and has quality and performance indicators on Virginian OB/GYN and Cardiology physicians and on hospitals.

Washington

Washington does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

West Virginia

West Virginia does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Wisconsin PricePoint System allows consumers to check hospital-specific services and charges.

The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality offers an interactive search engine where you can view health-care quality measures by three categories: type of provider, clinical topic or institute of medicine.

Wyoming

Wyoming does not yet provide assessments of hospitals or physicians, but consumers can use the Hospital Compare tool to compare the performance of their local hospitals for treating common medical conditions. See how specific facilities stack up when it comes to treating heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, as well as efforts to prevent surgical infections. The website has other helpful information and patient tools.

Additional Related Links

State-by-State Guide to Pharmacy Assistance Programs

State-by-State Guide to HMO Report Cards

State-by-State Guide to Transportation Assistance

Email Address:
Password:

Not registered? Sign Up!

Please sign in.