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YONKERS, N.Y., May 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer Reports, working with the Dartmouth Atlas Project, is launching a new free Web tool at www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org that illustrates for consumers the wide variation in treatment they can expect for serious chronic conditions depending on which hospital provides their care. The tool, which ranks nearly 3,000 U.S. hospitals, exposes sharp contrasts in the amount of time people with serious chronic conditions spend in the hospital and how much they will pay. These large variations in hospital care point to an unmet need for greater public education about how to navigate our complicated health-care system.
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"Too Much Treatment"
Consumer Reports' new hospital-rankings Web tool (www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org) is highlighted in an in-depth report published in its July issue. The report, entitled "Too Much Treatment," compares the approach of hospitals and doctors toward chronic life-threatening illnesses across the country. Consumer Reports contrasts aggressive care with conservative care, noting that aggressive care can, in some cases, shorten a person's life by subjecting the patient to more treatments, more time in the hospital, and hence increased risk of medical errors and infection.
"Consumer Reports is the perfect partner to help put this information in the hands of consumers," said Jack Wennberg, M.D., M.P.H., the founder of the Dartmouth Atlas Project. The 2008 Atlas (www.dartmouthatlas.org) studied the experiences of 4,732,448 Medicare patients at 2,878 U.S. hospitals during the last two years of life. Those patients, all 65 and older, were treated for the top nine leading causes of death, including (in order of prevalence), congestive heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease, cancer, dementia, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney failure, peripheral vascular (circulatory) disease, diabetes with organ damage, and severe chronic liver disease. The Atlas was authored by Wennberg and colleagues from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Dartmouth College. Principle funding for the Atlas comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center
At www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org, consumers will find information and ratings for health-related products, drugs, and treatments, and the new hospital web tool. The hospital rankings represent the first project of the new Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. The Health Ratings Center was initiated this month and will be directed by John Santa, M.D., M.P.H. Prior to joining Consumer Reports, Santa was best known for his work with the innovative Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP), which develops evidence-based reviews that evaluate and compare prescription medications. Santa was medical director at DERP from 2003 to 2006. The DERP drug reviews have been a cornerstone of the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs project, launched in December 2004.
"Studies from Dartmouth indicate that aggressive care doesn't necessarily prolong life, but it often extends the amount of time a patient spends in the hospital and the out-of-pocket cost for that care," said Dr. Santa. Emphasizing that the hospital comparisons only pertain to chronic diseases such as heart failure, cancer, and chronic kidney failure, Santa added that this information does not assess the quality of hospital care. CR's July report describes several studies that have drawn a connection between the extra care administered in high-spending, aggressive-care regions, and diminished quality of care. One study, by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, found a reverse correlation between per capita Medicare s
