Be wary of star ratings when picking a hospital

Medicare's online site Hospital Compare now uses stars to rate hospitals. This is good and bad when it comes to judging a hospital.

The good: At least there is another tool to help guide you toward selecting the right hospital. The star ratings look at things like pain control and communication with the patient.

The bad: The star method is based on the appraisals of patients who've been in hospitals. If a patient has had a bad experience, it might have nothing to do with the care he or she received. Patients who are surveyed are chosen randomly, and they're not all Medicare recipients. (What would be interesting is seeing a comparison of the results of patients on Medicare versus those who have private insurance. Is our care different from those with another insurance plan?)

Hospitals, of course, aren't thrilled about these star surveys, saying that a difference of only a point can move a hospital down from three stars to two, or down to one. They also point to the fact that it's just patient opinion that makes up the rating, and that there's much more to a hospital than a patient's experience. The American Hospital Association even says, "There's a risk of oversimplifying the complexity of quality care."

Medicare does its own reports, but those are based on dry statistics, such as how many people got infections while there.

In time, the site also will rate hospitals based on outcomes and safety, but for now, the patient appraisals and the Medicare reports are what's available. To see how your hospital compares, go online to medicare.gov/hospitalcompare

(c) 2015 King Features Synd., Inc.