Teaching hospitals are no better than non-teaching hospitals in providing routine medical care

Sep 2 2009

Teaching hospitals are well-known for having cutting edge technology and specialty services for highly complex illnesses. They are household names you consider when a loved one is facing a difficult health issue. But in a world where Value-Based Purchasing and healthcare reform are top of mind, are teaching hospitals the better choice when it comes to common medical needs?

A national review of these programs concludes that when it comes to routine medical care, there is no reason to assume that teaching hospitals provide higher value, according to Hal Andrews, CEO of Data Advantage, the company behind the Hospital Value Index™.

“Our findings show that, as a group, teaching hospitals are not distinguished by providing higher value for everyday medical care as compared to non-teaching hospitals,” said Andrews. “While several teaching hospitals are notable for delivering high value, very few of them are the “name” brands. When it comes to most of the services that consumers receive, teaching hospitals are rarely a better value, and sometimes are significantly worse.”

According to the study, St Joseph’s Hospital of Yonkers, NY is an example of a teaching hospital that consistently delivers high value, ranking in the top 10% two years in a row. “St Joseph’s is focused on Family Medicine training with a community focus and is delivering what the White House is calling for in healthcare system reform,” said Andrews. Another example is St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA, which delivers much better value than its peers in Boston.

These are among a variety of findings in the 2009-2010 Hospital Value Index™, the most comprehensive examination of the value of hospital care available today. The latest study from the Hospital Value Index™ used the most current and comprehensive set of publicly available data, including Hospital Compare data released in July 2009, to survey more than 4,500 U.S. hospitals to discover where patients can find the best value of care in their community. The Hospital Value Index™ researchers analyzed a variety of public data on hospital quality, price, efficiency and patient satisfaction for the study.

“Healthcare stakeholders are increasingly focused on Value-Based Purchasing of routine healthcare, as a means to achieving accountable quality, affordability and efficiency,” said David Potash, M.D., one of the authors of the study. “When it comes to delivering high value, routine care, teaching hospitals demonstrate considerable variability and inconsistency, yet no single metric explains the variances.”

Data Advantage will release the complete 2009-2010 Hospital Value Index™ results on September 15 in Washington, D.C. For more information on the Hospital Value Index™ findings, please visit www.HospitalValueIndex.com or www.TheHealthcareValueBlog.com.

www.data-advantage.com.