Joe Imperato, MD, recently wrote a column for ChicagoNow arguing against the impactfulness of hospital rankings.
Dr. Imperato was trained at the Joint Center for Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School. He is a past president of the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society and of the medical staff at the Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital. Additionally he is a fellow of the American College of Radiology.
Here's what you need to know:
1. U.S. News and World Report and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released their national hospital ratings recently.
2. Dr. Imperato made several arguments about the uselessness of the rankings because of the variance between ranking systems, and the ineffectiveness of the ranking system. He claimed that when being rushed to the hospital for an emergency, the rankings would be the furthest thing on a patient's mind. Second, he claimed that once you have a hospital's overall ranking, the other factors in a patient's decision (insurance, doctor's recommendation) make the ranking moot.
3. Dr. Imperato said when making a provider decision, the only thing that matters is who the doctor will be; the experience level of the doctor; the experience level of the team accompanying the doctor; is the facility in a patient's insurance? and is the location convenient?
4. Dr. Imperato said, "the reality is that for most common diseases, most hospitals do a pretty damn good job. Going to the 'best' does not prevent you from having problems or complications after a procedure.
5. Dr. Imperato concluded that the ratings should be taken with a grain of salt and should be used as general indicators of a facility's ability.
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