written by Rich Wildzunas
The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare (http://www.medicare.gov/quality-care-finder/ ) provides a wealth of information for all citizens regardless of age, and you do not have to be on Medicare to access this free information.
The Official U.S. Government web site from Medicare compares the quality of care and services for Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Physicians, Dialysis Facilities and Home Health services.
Looking for a Good Quality Nursing Home Provider:
As an example, this site helps anyone considering a nursing home let’s say for a family member and you do not know where to start, and provides the following guidance and provides easy to use instructions allowing you to enter your zip code and the distance you would be willing to travel.
As an example, if you entered Zip code 11434 and a distance of no more than 10 miles, a comprehensive listing of seventy-five nursing homes is shown with comprehensive detail according to the following:
Nursing homes are rated overall and on health inspections, nursing home staffing and quality measures. More stars are better.
Note: The Quality Measure ratings are taken from data submitted by the nursing home between January 1, 2010 and September 30, 2010.
- Step 1: Find Nursing Homes in your area. Search by name, city, county, state, or ZIP code.
- Step 2: Compare the quality of the nursing Homes you’re considering using the Five-Star Quality Ratings, health inspection results, nursing home staff data, quality measures, and fire safety inspection results.
- Step 3: Visit the nursing homes you’re considering or have someone visit for you. Use the Nursing Home Checklist and other resources under “Additional information” below.
- Step 4: Choose the nursing home that best meets your needs. Talk to your doctor or other healthcare practitioner, your family, friends, or others about your nursing home choices. Contact the Long-Term Ombudsman or State Survey Agency before you make a decision
Looking for a Physician in your area:
This site enables you to search for Physicians and other healthcare professionals in your area and let’s say you want to find an Orthopedic Physician in your area; just enter your zip code say 11434, check the physician compare, select Orthopedic, and say within one (1) mile, and a listing of eighteen Orthopedic Physicians appears with a profile for each physician, office locations and group practice locations for each physician
Use the Medicare search tool to:
- Search for physicians and get their contact information.
- Get information on medical specialty, clinical training, foreign languages spoken, and more.
- Find out if your physicians accept the Medicare-approved amount as full payment.
- Find information about other types of health professionals. (For example Nurses, Physical Therapists, Nutrition Services and Physician Assistants).
Looking to Compare Quality of Care from your local Hospital:
The Hospital Compare site provides specific information on your local hospital and allows you to enter your zip code 11434, and Jamaica, NY will be displayed which you select. Next let’s say you want “General” you click on that tab, then “Find Hospitals”.
What you see next is a listing of seventy (70) hospitals within 25 miles of Jamaica, Beginning with Jamaica Hospital. Let’s say you want to compare Jamaica Hospital (you are limited to compare only three hospitals at a time), you check Jamaica Hospital and select two (2) other hospitals you want to compare it against.
“The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems is a national survey that asks patients about their experiences during a recent hospital stay and specifically states to “Use the results shown here to compare hospitals based on ten important hospital quality topics”
This hospital compare site is very informative and specific to information residents are always asking whereby you are able to:
- Compare hospitals based on the quality of their care (for example, do they give recommended treatments known to get the best results for certain conditions like heart attack and pneumonia.)
- Get patient survey results to learn more about patients’ experiences at each hospital.
- Compare rates of readmission, mortality (death) rates, and more.
We hope this informative article is helpful to not only South East Jamaica residents, but to all residents with questions concerning healthcare information on providers and services, and where to go to find the information.