Sir_Excellence-Simplified Rating Systems

Russell 

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The hospital rating systems we looked at this week are great tools to compare neighborhood hospitals that one may already be familiar with. In my case I compared my three closest acute care hospitals, is was interesting that the hospital with the largest network compared to the other two had the lowest ratings. These numbers mean something to me because I work in health care and realize that one thing holds true: the bigger the hospital network usually means lower quality in care and overall satisfaction scores. 

Yet the overall effectiveness of these ratings systems from an outsiders view may give the larger hospital system a skewed view without looking into issues such as safety of the neighborhood, the socioeconomics or demographics of the patients they serve or the insurance carriers that they are in-network with. So using Hospital compare to compare three unknown hospitals that I am not familiar with maybe a pitfall I may choose based on ratings and in end in a secluded unsafe part of the city where the hospital with the best rating is not in network with my insurance carrier. The article below I found interesting because is illustrates many of the same ideas voiced by my classmates on the discussion board-the rating systems are confusing and a bit misleading. 

1. McCarthy, M. US hospital rating systems rarely agree, study finds. British Medical Journal (Online); London 350(March 5, 2015). Accessed March 19th 2016. 

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