Source:
Seattle Post-IntelligencerThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is running ads in both Seattle daily newspapers Wednesday showing consumers how to compare services and quality of care in area hospitals by using a new Web site.
The ads, which are running in more than 50 other newspapers across the country, promote Hospital Compare,
hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, a Web site that scores 26 quality and patient satisfaction measures at nearly 4,000 hospitals nationwide.
In the Seattle area, the list covers hospitals from Auburn to Everett. The site compares such categories as how much procedures -- say, gall bladder removal or heart surgeries -- cost at the different hospitals. Consumers can compare measures such as how well patients said their doctors communicated with them and how clean their rooms or bathrooms were.
Consumers can also compare Medicare payments for such things as diabetes care. For example, of the 16 hospitals in a 25-mile radius of Seattle, payments for adult diabetes care ranges from $4,292 at Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue to $6,834 at Harborview Medical Center.
Read more:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/363904_ratehospitals21.html
The ads start running this morning, so I believe this is in the 12 hour window of "late breaking."