Value Ratings: Hospitals

Imagine you have moved to a new state. Which hospitals would be a good fit for your family? Several considerations matter to you, such as:

  • Good infection control
  • Fair prices
  • Low mortality rates
  • Favorable patient recommendations

The Challenge

You know that some considerations are more important than others are, but saying precisely how much more is difficult to do. An online rating organization has declared a handful of hospitals as “blue ribbon” — but you have no idea how heavily they weight considerations that are of little relevance or importance to you. There is something peculiar about such declarations; they seem to suggest that the best fit for one is the best fit for all. You think there must be a better way.

The Solution

After taking the preference survey, your Preference Profile reveals exactly how important each consideration is to you. When combined with actual performance data, you obtain tailored Value Ratings that display how well each hospital performs in the areas that matter most to you. Your Value Ratings offer more than basic rankings. For example, they tell you if there is one or two outstanding hospitals, or perhaps if all the hospitals cluster together in a mediocre range.

Viewed through your Preference Profile, this complex decision is made simpler

hospitals

In this example, we see that Hospitals C and F are outstanding performers. After Hospital A, performance drops off substantially. Moreover, we can compare the best Value Rating (95%) to the worst (19%) to understand that there is a nearly a five-fold difference between the available choices. These are your results. Value Ratings for other people will differ because their underlying preferences differ.

And when decisions are especially consequential, Value Ratings offer additional guidance: Evidence Strength.  Evidence Strength tells you when you are witnessing reliably high performance.

To see an illustration of Value Ratings as applied to medical groups using real data, click here.