More than numbers:
What outcome data doesn’t tell you about health care quality

Americans want more accountability from their health care providers. To answer that challenge, hospitals, physicians and other health care firms are gathering outcome data and other quality measures in an effort to showcase their quality of care. In “How to size up your hospital,” a recent Wall Street Journal article, author Theo Francis looks at the burgeoning outcome data resources available and what other tools you can use to assess the quality of your local medical care providers.

While online resources provide valuable information, performing the research can be both time-consuming and frustrating. Not all medical institutions collect the same type of information or quantify it in the same manner, so you need to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. Many people rely on word of mouth recommendations or trust that if a hospital is well known it must provide top quality care. It’s difficult even for well educated health care consumers to wade through the sea of available information and make an informed choice.

PinnacleCare offers a better solution. Members have expedited access to the nation’s top practitioners. Each Member’s personal Advocate Team gathers a complete health record for each person in the family and researches and compiles a report about which physicians and hospitals offer the best quality care with an eye to the family’s health concerns.

To talk to a member of the PinnacleCare team about how we can take the guesswork, stress and hassle out of your health care experience, click here.