Saturday, July 28, 2012

Compare Health Insurance Carriers

Just found this site for anyone who wants to compare their insurance with other carriers. Worth a peek.

Take health care into your own hands http://www.healthcare.gov/index.html

Comparing Care Providers

Tools to help you assess the quality of care you’re getting

The Affordable Care Act is designed not just to control health care costs, but also to improve quality of care. The federal government has created several tools that allow you to compare a variety of quality measures of health care and service providers. In addition, the Partnership for Patients program highlights hospitals and other providers that have made a commitment to reducing medical errors, improving health care quality, and reducing costs.

1. Partnership for Patients	The Partnership for Patients includes hospitals, medical practices, and others that agree to support programs that improve patient safety, increase health care quality, and lower costs. Use our map to find members in your area and learn more about the Partnership, including information for current and prospective members.
2. Compare Physicians	Use this tool to help you search for and compare physicians and other health professionals. It provides information on medical specialty, clinical training, foreign languages spoken, and more.
3. Compare Hospitals	This tool can help you compare the quality of care that hospitals provide. It provides a list of U.S. hospitals which includes hospital demographics (location, hospital type) and 44 quality-of-care measures. It also includes data on some Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.
4. Compare Nursing Homes	Use this tool to help you compare the quality of care that nursing homes provide. It provides a list of U.S. nursing homes which includes demographics (location and type of facility) and nursing home ratings, which include health inspection reports, staffing data, and quality measures.
5. Compare Home Health Agencies	This tool can help you compare the quality of care that home health agencies provide. It provides a list of U.S. home health agencies, including demographics, services provided and quality measures.
6. Compare Dialysis Facilities	Use this tool to help you compare the quality of care that dialysis facilities provide. It provides a list of U.S. dialysis facilities which includes services provided, quality measures, and resources.