Go To A Famous Hospital, Get Better Care?
Hospital rankings matter. Specifically, those published in U.S. News & World Report carry additional weight. Hospitals use these numbers in advertising campaigns, and patients often choose hospitals based on these rankings.
But does a high place really mean you’re getting better care? Not necessarily.
The Annals of Internal Medicine took a closer look at the hospital ratings, and found that “reputation score” was a significant factor. Indeed, “the hospitals ranked No. 1 for each of 12 medical specialties in the magazine survey reached the top spot based on their reputation scores alone, 100 percent of the time,” and furthermore, “the reputation scores were ‘minimally associated’ with objective quality measures that were also examined for each hospital.”
In effect, a big-name academic medical center doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to provide the best care. Patients need to know that.
In Boston, for instance, hospitals that rank highly on the U.S. News survey, like Massachusetts General Hospital, have the clout to charge higher rates, because patients clamor to go to a top-rated facility.
By pointing out how reputation alone influences these rankings, we can plant the seed that a more famous hospital isn’t necessarily better.
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
I don’t think that famous hospitals, famous physicians, department chairmen should automatically be selected by patients. These folks and institutions are likely famous for reasons that have nothing to do with a patient’s clinical need. There will be glitz and whistles, but a patient might fare much better with care that doesn’t have its own PR apparatus.