Jefferson Healthcare hospital was found to have 30-day mortality rates comparable to the national rate for both heart attack and heart failure patients on Medicare in a study released last week.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a branch of the federal Health and Human Services Department, has posted data on the Internet about care procedures and mortality rates at more than 4,800 hospitals nationwide.
The most recent addition to the Web site www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov is a ranking of how often Medicare patients with heart failure or heart attacks died within 30 days of treatment.
Jefferson Healthcare is listed as Jefferson General Hospital on the site.
The site said that the hospital’s mortality rates in both areas was comparable to the national rates of 18 percent for heart attack patients and 11 percent for heart failure patients.
Forks Community Hospital was not listed on the site.
The report does not give the precise mortality rates for individual hospitals, saying such rates could be misinterpreted.
Rather, the Web site says whether a hospital’s mortality rates are better, worse or comparable to the national average.
The Web site also tells how often hospitals provide some of the care recommended for patients treated for a heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia or undergoing surgery.
Hospitals voluntarily provided data from medical records about the treatments.
Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a press release that posting the hospitals’ performance helps consumers know what they’re getting for their health care money.
“People need to know not only what their health care costs, but how good it is,” Leavitt said.
