You may not have a choice about which hospital to use for a particular operation. Options often are limited because you may need to use a specific surgeon or specialist. Geography may limit your choice if you live in a less populated area with only one hospital. If you are fortunate enough to live in a larger metropolitan area and are not locked into a specific physician, you may be able to avoid some dangers inherent in hospital care by being selective in where you go for treatment.
You can do that by doing some research on the web into hospital rating services. For one example, visit www.healthgrades.com. Check out specific hospitals and procedures in your area and the results may surprise you.
To illustrate, a person living in a populous area like Seattle is fortunate to have a number of hospitals within easy driving distance. For example, check out some hospitals in a situation where the patient has been told they need to have a gallbladder (Cholecystectomy) operation. Their primary care doctor has recommended three surgeons who practice with three different hospitals in the area. How does the patient make the best choice? The first step is to check out the reputation of the doctor through traditional methods. Ask for opinions from others who may have some knowledge of the doctor. Arrange consultation appointments with each doctor, asking questions like how many operations like this have you done, what is your success rate, and what problems have you encountered. Then use ratings services like the one above to check for more information about the doctors.
Even if a clear top choice in the doctor emerges, unless the others are far below the top choice for the sake of your health check out the hospital in which the surgery will be done again with the rating services. You may find startling differences that either will confirm your first choice or make you rethink some of the other choices.
“Better” ratings mean fewer patients were affected than expected, “Average” ratings mean about the same number of patients were affected as expected, “Worse” means more patients were affected than expected.
1) Complication rating for gallbladder surgery = One Star (Poor). Survival ratings for gastrointestinal surgeries and procedures while in hospital, one month after hospitalization and six months after hospitalization = Three Stars (“As Expected”). Overall Patient Safety Rating = “Worse” (More patients affected than expected) in the following areas: Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery in or around the chest; Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital; Excessive bruising or bleeding as a consequence of a procedure or surgery; Blood clots in the lungs and legs following surgery.
2) Complication rating for gallbladder surgery = Three Stars (As Expected). Survival ratings for gastrointestinal surgeries and procedures while in hospital, one month after hospitalization and six months after hospitalization= Five Stars (best). Overall patient safety indicator = “Worse” in the following areas: Death following a serious complication after surgery, Collapsed lung due to a procedure or surgery and around the chest, Catheter-related bloodstream infections acquired at the hospital.
3) Complication rate for gallbladder surgery = Three Stars (“As Expected”). Survival ratings for gastrointestinal surgeries and procedures while in hospital, one month after hospitalization and six months after hospitalization= Three Stars (“As Expected”). Overall patient safety indicator = “Better” or “Average” in all areas.
While emergencies may not leave time for this kind of research, anyone at all interested in being proactive about their health would be well rewarded if they did some checking on the hospitals in their area before they got sick.