Health News
- Medicare Ratings For Nursing Homes Rely Heavily On Self-reported Data; Recent Inspection Data Are Available Elsewhere
Next time you look at Medicare's ratings for nursing homes, be aware that most of the information used to make the ranking is based on self-reported data and is not verified by the government. Consumers and investors make critical decisions based...
- Consumer Reports Rates Hospitals On Safety, Puts Somerset Hospital Last In Kentucky; Hospital Blames Its Incomplete Data
Consumer Reports magazine recently released safety rankings for hospitals across the country, compiled from government data. Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, Maine, received the best safety rating in the U.S., a 78 on a scale of 100....
- Hopkinsville Hospital's Credit Rating Downgraded; Part Of National Trend, But Only Kentucky Hospital Nicked By Rating Agency Lately
Following a national trend stemming from a slowly recovering economy, the hospital in Hopkinsville has had its credit rating downgraded, a possibility many Kentucky hospitals may be facing. "This means the hospital may have to pay a higher interest rate...
- Northwest Hospital Subacute Care Unit Receives High Ranking
The Subacute Care Unit at Northwest Hospital has received a high ranking of five stars overall in U.S. News & World Report?s 2011 Best Nursing Homes. U.S. News uses government criteria for this list, and in this case, the government defines a nursing...
- Levindale Among Best U.s. Nursing Homes
Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center has received a ranking of five stars overall in U.S. News & World Report?s 2011 Best Nursing Homes. The rankings highlight facilities across the nation which provide high-quality care and are a tool for millions of...
Health News
Most Kentucky hospitals did average or better in new patient satisfaction ratings; seven got top rating and six got bottom rating
Most of the Kentucky hospitals that were rated on a newly released five-star scale for patient satisfaction got three and four stars. Seven of them got a five-star rating and six got a two-star rating, the lowest rating given to any of the Kentucky hospitals that were evaluated.
The star ratings can be found on Medicare's Hospital Compare website and are based on a patient satisfaction survey given to randomly selected patients, not just those on Medicare, at nearly 3,500 Medicare-certified acute care hospitals across the country. The ratings are based on patient admissions between July 2013 and June 2014. Hospitals were not included if they did not have enough surveys completed during that period.
The survey, also known as Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey, includes questions about patient satisfaction related to how their doctors, nurses and hospital staff communicated with them, how well their pain was addressed during their hospital stay, how well they were prepared to go home, cleanliness of the hospital and if they would recommend the hospital to others.
Kaiser Health News analyzed the data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and found that 76 Kentucky hospitals were included in the patient satisfaction star ratings and 17 Kentucky hospitals were not. Kaiser found that the average for all of the rated hospitals in Kentucky was 3.4 stars, one-third, or 25, got four stars; half, or 38, got three.
HealthWatch USA, a non-profit organization that promotes health care transparency and patient advocacy based in Somerset, further analyzed the data and named the hospitals in each state by its star rating.
The seven with five-star ratings are: Clinton County Hospital, Marshall County Hospital, Westlake Regional Hospital, Saint Joseph Martin, Rockcastle County Hospital, Pikeville Medical Center and Russell County Hospital.
The six with two-star ratings are: Georgetown Community Hospital, Harlan ARH Hospital, Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center, Spring View Hospital in Lebanon, University of Louisville Hospital and Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reminds consumers that these patient satisfaction star ratings are just one tool to help decide which hospital to use, and encourages them to use multiple factors to make this decision, including clinical outcomes, their health-care providers opinion and other publicly reported data.
The star ratings can be found on Medicare's Hospital Compare website and are based on a patient satisfaction survey given to randomly selected patients, not just those on Medicare, at nearly 3,500 Medicare-certified acute care hospitals across the country. The ratings are based on patient admissions between July 2013 and June 2014. Hospitals were not included if they did not have enough surveys completed during that period.
The survey, also known as Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey, includes questions about patient satisfaction related to how their doctors, nurses and hospital staff communicated with them, how well their pain was addressed during their hospital stay, how well they were prepared to go home, cleanliness of the hospital and if they would recommend the hospital to others.
Kaiser Health News analyzed the data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and found that 76 Kentucky hospitals were included in the patient satisfaction star ratings and 17 Kentucky hospitals were not. Kaiser found that the average for all of the rated hospitals in Kentucky was 3.4 stars, one-third, or 25, got four stars; half, or 38, got three.
HealthWatch USA, a non-profit organization that promotes health care transparency and patient advocacy based in Somerset, further analyzed the data and named the hospitals in each state by its star rating.
The seven with five-star ratings are: Clinton County Hospital, Marshall County Hospital, Westlake Regional Hospital, Saint Joseph Martin, Rockcastle County Hospital, Pikeville Medical Center and Russell County Hospital.
The six with two-star ratings are: Georgetown Community Hospital, Harlan ARH Hospital, Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center, Spring View Hospital in Lebanon, University of Louisville Hospital and Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reminds consumers that these patient satisfaction star ratings are just one tool to help decide which hospital to use, and encourages them to use multiple factors to make this decision, including clinical outcomes, their health-care providers opinion and other publicly reported data.
- Medicare Ratings For Nursing Homes Rely Heavily On Self-reported Data; Recent Inspection Data Are Available Elsewhere
Next time you look at Medicare's ratings for nursing homes, be aware that most of the information used to make the ranking is based on self-reported data and is not verified by the government. Consumers and investors make critical decisions based...
- Consumer Reports Rates Hospitals On Safety, Puts Somerset Hospital Last In Kentucky; Hospital Blames Its Incomplete Data
Consumer Reports magazine recently released safety rankings for hospitals across the country, compiled from government data. Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, Maine, received the best safety rating in the U.S., a 78 on a scale of 100....
- Hopkinsville Hospital's Credit Rating Downgraded; Part Of National Trend, But Only Kentucky Hospital Nicked By Rating Agency Lately
Following a national trend stemming from a slowly recovering economy, the hospital in Hopkinsville has had its credit rating downgraded, a possibility many Kentucky hospitals may be facing. "This means the hospital may have to pay a higher interest rate...
- Northwest Hospital Subacute Care Unit Receives High Ranking
The Subacute Care Unit at Northwest Hospital has received a high ranking of five stars overall in U.S. News & World Report?s 2011 Best Nursing Homes. U.S. News uses government criteria for this list, and in this case, the government defines a nursing...
- Levindale Among Best U.s. Nursing Homes
Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center has received a ranking of five stars overall in U.S. News & World Report?s 2011 Best Nursing Homes. The rankings highlight facilities across the nation which provide high-quality care and are a tool for millions of...