Ohio Department of Health Launches Website Comparing Hospital Performance

The Department of Health has launched a website that allows Ohioans to compare infection rates, patient satisfaction and other quality indicators. Ohio Hospital Compare allows users to compare more than 100 different performance measures among hospitals throughout the state. The website contains information on heart care, surgery, strokes, pneumonia, hospital-acquired infections, pregnancy and delivery, children’s asthma, and patient satisfaction.

In response to hospitals’ concerns about how the information would be presented, the agency allows facilities to add comments about their performance measures. For example, hospitals that specialize in more severely ill heart patients have the ability to explain their relatively high mortality rates. Moreover, certain indicators are risk-adjusted to take into account such discrepancies. ODH will continue to add indicators to the website over time and will solicit feedback from stakeholders. The agency plans to add performance measures on flu vaccinations, pediatric and perinatal care over the next two years.

The majority of measures are based on national standards from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Joint Commission, the National Quality Forum, Agency for Health Care Research and Quality and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to ODH. Hospitals submit their performance data every six months and a corresponding update will be made every July and January. To view the site go to:

http://publicapps.odh.ohio.gov/facilityinformation/HospitalMeasuresHomePage.aspx