The New York State Health Accountability Foundation has released an interactive report that provides data on the quality, volume, length of stay, and pricing of care provided by the state’s health insurers and hospitals, searchable by county. For the HMOs, 26 measures of quality care are included, and hospital performance is reported for 18 measures. The report card also provides each New York hospital’s Medicaid cost, length of stay, and average “self-pay” charge for each of 15 common diagnoses and procedures. In addition, each commercial insurer’s individual and family premiums for a standardized HMO plan are published.
The report card shows a significant amount of variation in quality and cost within counties. For example, hospitals in Brooklyn charge self-paying patients between $6,460 and $22,608 for an appendectomy, while hospitals in Long Island charge from $8,788 to $23,985. “Our ultimate goal is to provide a way to present quality and cost in a manner that describes each hospital’s and HMO’s efficiency,” says Anthony Shih, MD, vice president of IPRO, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for New York. “This report card represents a first step.” Access the report card.
