Illinois Hospitals Share Information on Services, Quality on New Web Site

NAPERVILLE, Ill., April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Working with its member hospitals and health systems across the state, the Illinois Hospital Association (IHA) today launched a new web site aimed at helping Illinoisans become better informed consumers of health care. The site, Illinois Hospitals Caring for You (www.illinoishospitals.org), provides current data on the services provided at nearly 200 Illinois hospitals and how they measure up in quality and safety of care, as well as other useful information.

"This kind of transparency breaks new ground in communicating and improving the quality of care provided to patients in Illinois," said IHA President Maryjane A. Wurth. "The web site not only shares in one convenient place a description of the hospitals' services, but measures their progress in improving quality and safety and patient satisfaction, thereby demonstrating their commitment to help Illinoisans become more informed consumers of health care."

The information on Illinois Hospitals Caring for You includes:

• A description of the medical and surgical services provided at hospitals throughout Illinois;
• Quality and safety performance results for each hospital, based on nationally accepted quality measurements established by such organizations as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality;
• Results of surveys by patients on their satisfaction with their experience at each hospital;
• Information on services and benefits that hospitals provide to their local communities.
• Useful resources to help consumers communicate more effectively with providers, including checklists to prepare for a doctor visit, procedure, or hospital stay.

"The information on this web site will help consumers be better informed about the wide range of services provided by their local hospitals and the quality of those services," said James Leonard, MD, President and CEO of Carle Foundation Hospital and chair of IHA's member task force that guided the Association on developing the web site. "Just as importantly, the voluntary reporting of quality data by Illinois hospitals helps the hospitals themselves share best practices and move ahead more quickly on quality improvement and patient safety initiatives."

Consumers can find a hospital that meets their needs by searching the web site either by service, such as chemotherapy or sports medicine, or by condition to be treated, such as asthma or kidney stones. The quality information on the web site provides easy-to-understand measurements for specific illnesses and procedures for each hospital.

The web site includes quality indicators showing how Illinois hospitals rank on appropriate treatment for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia, which are among the most common causes of hospitalization in Illinois; on surgical care; and on specialized care for rare conditions for adults and children.

The Illinois Hospitals Caring for You web site is an initiative of IHA's new Quality Care Institute, the Association's center for improving quality and strengthening patient safety.

The Illinois Hospital Association, with offices in Naperville and Springfield, is an advocate for 200 hospitals and health systems and the patients and communities they serve. For more information, see IHA's web site, www.ihatoday.org.

SOURCE Illinois Hospital Association