A Hospital Performance Guide that lists whether a hospital fares better, worse or as expected for general medical care, surgery and childbirth. A Cardiac Services Guide that helps consumers know how many heart bypass surgeries and angioplasty operations a doctor has performed. A consumer glossary of health plan terms. Navigator will include information on more managed-care companies, including those for Medicare plans, by the end of this year, said Dennis McCafferty, vice president for product development of the health council's Health Information Action Group. Patterned after an approach used by the Big Three automakers to standardize parts for suppliers, the information action group is one of several new services the health council hopes to sell or bring to other communities and small-business coalitions, Kenney said.
Navigator is a good glimpse of what's to come.
As the federal government, employers and others wrestle with rising health costs, calls have grown for more ways to gauge which health plans deliver the most and the best. Report cards are an evolving science. Michael Chernew is both a father of a preschooler and a University of Michigan health management specialist. He compares report cards to toddlers. They have made tremendous strides but they have a long way to go.