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New Web site compares hospital care Anonymous
http://hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/615736.html?chan=top+news_top+news+index_lif
estyle

The first national print advertising campaign focusing on the quality of care in American hospitals was launched this week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The ads, which began appearing May 21 in 58 major daily newspapers, promote the department's Hospital Compare Web site, which is designed to help consumers make well-informed decisions when selecting a hospital.

The ads highlight two measures among those available on the site: the percentage of patients at each hospital who always received help when they requested it, as reported by the patients, and the percentage of patients at each hospital who were given antibiotics one hour before surgery, as reported by hospitals. The ad also shows the state average for the two.

The other data available on the Web site , price (cost of a procedure) and volume (how many procedures were performed), are updated annually, and will be revised in September.