1. Compare Kendall Regional Medical Center data and rankings with Lower keys medical center and the state or national averages in the category of patient experiences, and timely and effective care.
While comparing the patient survey summary star rating of Kendall Regional Medical Center with that of Lower Keys Medical Center, it seems that both the hospital have achieved two-star rating out of five. When 73% patients of Kendall reported that their nurses had ‘always’ communicated well, the same thing was reported by 71% of Lower Keys’ patients (Kendall, Hospital compare). Compared to the state average (76%) and national average (80%), both the hospitals are yet to improve their performance. Similarly, Kendall’s 78% patients reported that their doctors had ‘always’ communicated well, it was 76% in case of Lower Keys hospital, less than the national average of 82%. The percentage of patients who reported that they had ‘always’ received help as soon as they wanted was 59% and 61% respectively for Kendall and Lower Keys. These hospitals’ performance is below par since the state average is 63% and national average is 68%. One of the key differences between these two hospital is that when 60% of Kendall’s patients reported that staff had ‘always’ explained to them about medicines before actually administering on them, only 53% of the Lower Keys’ patients reported that. Despite this, only37% of Kendall’s patients reported that they had actually understood their care when they left the hospital. Compared to this, Lower Keys has a better rate (43%) though it is still lower than state and national averages (49% and 52% respectively). (Lower Keys & Kendall, Hospital compare). In terms of timely and effective care, both the hospitals perform greatly although their performance is yet to be improved to level the national average. In a close comparison, it is identified that both the hospitals perform almost equally in terms of patient experience and timely and effective care.
2. Were any of the findings surprising to you?
Yes. While analyzing the hospital rating in terms of ‘timely and effective care’, it is identified that this healthcare facility responds immediately to emergency patient needs such as heart failure care, stroke care, and emergency department care. This strength greatly assists the organization to avoid unwanted patient outcomes to a great extent and to achieve enhanced patient safety. Furthermore, ‘timely and effective care’ is a key factor adding to a greater patient experience.
3. While you reviewed the data and comparisons, what questions/concerns arose in your mind?
While reviewing the data and comparisons, I wondered how many people in the United States are informed of the ‘Hospital Compare’ website. Though this website is really helpful for consumers in gaining deep insights into the care delivery of different hospital in the country, majority of the US people do not make use of this website actually. This lack of information significantly limits the scope of a very useful website that provides care quality comparisons/information based on real data.
4. Should patients rate nursing or medical care?
I strongly think that patients should rate nursing care more than medical care because they actually receive patient care from nurses. To be more precise, patients interact more closely with nurses than physicians, and therefore, the quality of nursing care can have a significant impact on patient outcomes. In addition, patients are able to rate nursing care quality more effectively than the hospital administration. Based on the nurse rating done by patients, the hospital management can take effective decisions/strategies to enhance the quality of nursing care delivery.
5. Should medicare reimbursements be tied to these quality indicatorssome, but not others?
I strongly suggest that medicare reimbursements should be tied to quality indicators provided in the ‘Hospital Compare’ website such as patient experience, complications, timely and effective care, use of medical imaging, payment and value of care, and readmissions and death. This approach really makes sense and requires the healthcare providers to be more vigilant and efficient in delivering patient care thus leading to enhanced patient safety. Furthermore, this strategy can persuade nurses to be more careful while performing their duties and responsibilities.
6. Did the comparisons adequately reflect your perception of the quality of care provided at Kendall Regional Medical Center?
It appears that the comparisons do not adequately reflect my perception of the quality of care provided at Kendall Regional Medical Center. From the comparisons, it is identified that the Kendall hospital performs less efficiently than what I expected.
7. How much choice do patients have in selecting the hospital where they will receive care?
Patients have greater choices in selecting the hospital where they will receive care. To justify, this ‘Hospital Compare’ website really assists patients to compare different hospitals in their region in terms of different quality outcomes including patient experience, timely care, and readmissions. Based on this comparison, patients are free to choose hospitals from which they want to receive treatment. Since electronic heath records (EHR) is widely used in the United States to enhance patient care, patients can switch between hospitals without any trouble.
8. How helpful do you think this site is for consumers?
This website can best meet the interests of consumers. As reflected in the previous answer, the website can provide consumers with a wide range of information regarding a hospital with regard to diverse factors including ranks in patient experiences; timely and effective care; readmission and complications; use of medical imaging;medicare payments; and number of medicare patients. On the basis of these quality indicators, consumers can compare the operational performance of different hospitals and choose the best one from them.
9. What changes would you recommend for this site?
The website should include medical negligence in the list of quality indicators to rate the quality of care provided by hospitals. Today medical negligence is growing to be a serious issue in the health sector, and therefore, it is vital to address this care impediment while rating hospitals. This change can benefit the hospital administration to identify medical negligence issues in the hospital care environment and thereby take immediate steps to resolve the issues identified.
References
Kendall Regional Medical Center. (n.d.). Hospital Compare. Retrieved from https://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/profile.html#profTab=2&vwgrph=1&ID=100209&state=FL&lat=0&lng=0&name=kendall%20regional%20medical%20center&Distn=0.0
Lower Keys Medical Center. (n.d.). Hospital Compare. Retrieved from https://www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare/profile.html#profTab=2&ID=100150&state=FL&lat=0&lng=0&name=Lower%20keys%20medical%20center&Distn=0.0
