Summary

Description

Veterans Health Administration works with many quality organizations including the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizatins and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to create and publicly report hospital quality information. This information measures how well hospitals care for their patients. The hospital quality measures on this website show treatments for three of the most common and costly conditions that hospitals treat and for patients having surgery. Research shows that these treatments provide the best results for most patients with those conditions. Hospitals, doctors, scientists, and other health care professionals agree that these quality measures give a good snapshot of the quality of care that hospitals give. Hospitals should try to give all of their patients the recommended care when it is appropriate. The goal for each measure is 100 percent. For three conditions (heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia) the website also presents information about surivival at 30 -days and readmission rates. You should know, however, that a hospital's quality is more than just its scores on these measures. Hospitals provide care for other illnesses and conditions. Some hospitals may admit patients that are sicker. A hospital should be able to tell you what steps it is taking to improve its care. The information you will find on this website is intended to help you when you talk with your physician or hospital about how you can best get the care you need.