HealthCare Foundation Web Site Issues Hospital Report Cards

A consumer-based website is publishing report cards for California-area hospitals.

CalHospitalCompare.org not only uses data from the state, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other sources – it also makes use of patient satisfaction data when compiling its report cards.

"Our emphasis was on the average consumer," said Dr. Bruce Spurlock, chair of the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce that worked on the report card for two years, quoted in the East Bay Business Times. "We wanted to make it so the average consumer could easily understand and navigate it."

California HealthCare Foundation provided $3 million to the project, which was matched with $3 million from health plans, including Blue Shield of California, Cigna, Health Net, Kaiser Permanente, PacifiCare Health Plans and Blue Cross of California. Participating hospitals contributed about $8 million in in-kind contributions.

The group plans to update the data quarterly and to add some 20 measurements in the fourth quarter.