CMS launched its Hospital Compare website to make public data more transparent and help patients "find hospitals and compare the quality of their care." However, the way the website shows the data could be improved, according to a study in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
For the study, researchers chose 61 patients at random within 24 hours of admission to a 760-bed tertiary hospital. Those patients were shown data on healthcare-associated infections either on the Hospital Compare website or in a new method.
Just 32 percent of patients who looked at HAI data could compare hospitals correctly, researchers found, while 56 percent of patients could do so when looking at the new presentation strategy.
"Improved methods for presenting CMS HAI data…should be adopted to increase public understanding," the study concludes.