Hospital Comparison Web Site Posts Results of Patient Hospital Quality Survey

The Federal Government has posted the results of a patient hospital quality survey on Medicare's Hospital Compare Web site. The first-ever CMS nationwide hospital quality survey found that 67% of patients said they would "definitely recommend" the facility in which they received treatment to friends and relatives and that 63% gave their hospitals a nine or 10 rating on a scale of zero to 10. However, many patients reported being dissatisfied with some aspect of their care, the survey found.

For the survey, randomly selected patients at more than 2,500 hospitals nationwide completed a questionnaire from October 2006 to June 2007. The survey asked 27 questions, such as how well providers handled complaints of pain and how well they listened to patients. To view the survey go to http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/Hospital/Search/Welcome.asp?version=default&browser=IE%7C6%7CWinXP&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home