Consumer Reports rates heart bypass surgical groups

The New York Times: Consumer Reports will rate groups that perform heart bypass surgery. The group already rates many consumer items like cars and even household appliances. "In most parts of the country, data-based ratings of doctors are not available to patients. Only a few states, including New York, provide them. The magazine published ratings of 221 surgical groups from 42 states online on Tuesday and will print them in its October issue. Groups are rated, not individual doctors. The groups receive one, two or three stars, for below average, average or above average." The scores are based on rates of survival and complication, technique and drug prescriptions given to patients post-operation. "In most parts of the country, data-based ratings of doctors are not available to patients. Only a few states, including New York, provide them. The magazine published ratings of 221 surgical groups from 42 states online on Tuesday and will print them in its October issue. Groups are rated, not individual doctors. The groups receive one, two or three stars, for below average, average or above average" (Grady, 9/7).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.