By CQ Staff
July 19, 2012 -- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have rolled out two redesigned Web sites officials said will make it easier for people to find the information they need to decide which hospital or nursing home they should go to.
"These enhanced tools give patients, their families, and caregivers the ability to make an informed decision on where to seek care by looking at how well hospitals and nursing homes are performing on important quality measures," CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said last week, "and anyone looking to compare hospitals or nursing homes—not just those on Medicare—can take advantage of these Web sites."
One site is dedicated to information about hospitals, the other focuses on nursing home information. According to CMS, both sites contain important data on how well these facilities perform on quality measures—such as the frequency of infections that develop in the hospital, how often patients have to be readmitted to the hospital, and the percentage of nursing residents who report having moderate to severe pain while staying in the nursing homes.
The design of the Web sites has been improved to include interactive maps to find hospitals and glossaries to make information easier to understand.