New Web Site Opens Window on Charges, Payments, Quality of Care at Michigan...( Consumers Get More A...),Health

Consumers Get More Access to Hospital Data

LANSING, Mich., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Web site will empower Michigan patients, families, employers and other consumers with more information than has ever been available to them before about the charges, payments and quality of care at Michigan hospitals.

MI Hospital Inform (http://www.MIHospitalInform.org) is a voluntary consumer service of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association (MHA) and the state's 146 nonprofit community hospitals. "The site presents Michigan hospital charges, payments and quality data in unprecedented detail and accessibility in a single location," said MHA President Spencer Johnson.

MI Hospital Inform is another example of the public service leadership of Michigan's nonprofit community hospitals, which continue to lead the nation in launching voluntary efforts to improve health care pricing, quality and access.

"Until now, this level of detail about the pricing and quality of care at Michigan hospitals has not been readily available to the public," Johnson said. "The business community, regulators, elected officials and consumer advocates regularly seek more transparency in health care data. Michigan hospitals are proud to voluntarily open this window on our charges, payments and quality information for all consumers to consider in their health care decisions."

Consumers can access http://www.MIHospitalInform.org free of charge.

Available on the Web site is pricing information for the 50 most frequent inpatient and 50 most frequent outpatient medical procedures (clinical diagnoses and treatments) monitored and covered by Medicare. Specifically, consumers will find the average charge, average payment, average length of stay (inpatient only), and total number of patients who were treated for each of the medical p
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