First New York/New Jersey Health Care Report Car...(to the national metric the state's HMOs ...),Health

Research has shown that surgery patients who get antibiotics within the hour before their operation are less likely to get wound infections. In New York, on average, hospitals give antibiotics correctly 81% of the time. The performance of hospitals in the Bronx ranges as low as 65% and as high as 96%.

Hospitals are not the only ones that show performance differences. On average, 71% of adult female HMO members across New York and 66% of adult female HMO members in New Jersey get mammograms at the recommended interval. The percentage ranges from 61% to 80%, depending on which HMO women belong to.

Premiums for standardized HMO plans also vary. Individual premiums in New York County vary from $501 to $1,292 per month, compared to $475 to $874 a month last year. Standard family premiums in New Jersey range from $1,732 to $3,630. Medicaid costs billed by the region's hospitals also vary. The amount Medicaid reimburses for gall bladder surgery, for example, ranges from $2,300 to $16,125.

"The ability of individuals to be able to make informed decisions about the health care services that they seek is a serious concern," says Michelle Scheiner, Director, Health & Welfare Benefits, CBS Corporation and a member of the Foundation's Employer Advisory Council. "At CBS we are working to find ways for our employees to have better access to information that will help them with those decisions. We applaud the efforts of the New York State Health Accountability Foundation and thank them for developing tools that can assist our employees in this area."

About the New York Regional Health Care Report Card Data

HMO quality data in the New York Regional Health Care Report Card consist of indepen
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