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CMS announces launch of Hospital Compare Web site

Compliance Monitor, April 6, 2005

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CMS and the Hospital Quality Alliance on April 1 announced the launch of their joint Hospital Compare Web site, which is designed to provide consumers with standardized assessments of care from nearly 4,200 hospitals nationwide.

"Hospital Compare gives consumers and health professionals quality of care information to help them make more informed decisions about their healthcare, while providing stronger rewards and support for high-quality, efficient care in the nation's hospitals," says CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD. "Not only are we spending more on our healthcare, but where we choose to get our care matters more than ever before."

The data provided on the Web site, which is accessible at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov or www.medicare.gov are based on "valid and reliable measures that have been shown to reflect quality of care," according to a CMS release about the new site.

For now the site includes quality data for 17 areas of healthcare, but McClellan says this is only the beginning. "We are working hard to make even more comprehensive information on quality available soon," he said. "Not every beneficiary needs to pay attention to every measure, but we are developing a much stronger foundation for supporting and rewarding better quality care."

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