Utah Hospitals Rank Better than National Average on New Comparison Reports

Jan 08, 2009 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Utah's hospitals are generally providing better care than the national average for births, knee replacement, heart attacks and pneumonia, according to the Utah Department of Health's annual comparison reports. The reports' co-author, Dr. Carol Mashetter, says the information helps consumers make better choices, and lets hospitals know where they need to improve.

"In general, hospitals appreciate the fact that they can see where they're doing well and maybe not so well and then focus their efforts where they can improve their care of patients," Mashetter says.

In the latest reports, a handful of hospitals fell below the national average for specific procedures. These include Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, which had a higher than average instance of deaths related to heart bypass surgery. Davis Hospital also was cited for having higher than average hearth failure, and Uintah Basin for a higher than average rate of death for stroke patients.

The reports also include a cost comparison between the state's hospitals for a variety of procedures. Mashetter says as costs increase and health reform efforts move forward, consumers will need to take a more active role in determining the cost of their health care.

"Consumers are going to need to take more responsibility for their own health care," Mashetter says. "And certainly for procedures or conditions where they can choose where they seek care, such as where to have a baby or where to get a hip replacement or a knee replacement, it becomes really important for consumers to have the information where they can see how hospitals do compared to one another."

The latest data included in the hospital comparison is from 2007. The annual reports were created by the Legislature in 2005 to increase transparency for consumers. The reports are available on the state web site, utah.gov, on the "My Health Care" page.

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