Although 31 states require hospitals to report rates of major hospital-acquired infections, healthcare officials oppose such a requirement in Michigan, MLive.com reports. Giving consumers access to this information doesn't mean they will understand what it means, Paula Keller, M.D., director of epidemiology at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, told MLive. Moreover, consumers should base their decisions about hospitals on other factors as well, such as physician skill and level of patient care.
"As much as the government would like to compare us all to each other, those results are dependent on the effectiveness and thoroughness of the people doing the work," she said. Requiring the information at both the state and federal level "is frankly redundant," said Michelle Schrieber, M.D., chief quality officer at Henry Ford Health System, which already provides data identical to that of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Hospital Compare site for four of its hospitals. Article