News: Validity of hospital and physician report cards called into question

March 28, 2013

The Leapfrog Group. Healthgrades. The Joint Commission. U.S. News and World Report. Consumer Reports. The list goes on and on. Although CDI specialists often use report cards and publicly available data to explain to physicians how their documentation affects their (and their hospital’s) standing, a new report from The Kaiser Health Network and The Philadelphia Inquirer questions the validity of the assessments.

Because each organization uses its own methodology, each may come to a different conclusion. For example, one hospital received an “A” from The Leapfrog Group, yet was omitted from The Joint Commission’s best hospital list, according to the article “Hospital Ratings are in the Eye of the Beholder.”

The proliferation of healthcare ratings gave rise to the Informed Patient Institute, which runs an assessment of the assessments.

Even if an organization earns distinction as a top hospital, many organizations charge significant sums to use their logo and tout their accomplishments, the article states.

Nevertheless, as these programs continue to promulgate ratings, facilities will doubtless continue to try to achieve top marks—an “A” or a spot on the “Top 100” list—and regardless of how the data gets parsed, CDI specialists need to be there to obtain the most accurate data to begin with.

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