Consumer Reports ranks UH and Cleveland Clinic

Choosing the right hospital for a sick loved one can be difficult when hospitals are being sued left and right for nursing errors and medical malpractice. If you’re like me, you stick with top-of-mind hospitals like University Hospital and Cleveland Clinic, both of which promise high quality care. But what if you found out these two prestigious hospitals received less than exceptional ratings in a patient safety analysis?

Consumer Reports recently rated nearly 1,200 hospitals throughout the U.S., using a scale from 1 to 100. According to the Plain Dealer, the highest patient safety score was a 72. University Hospital scored a 41 and Cleveland Clinic trailed closely behind at 39.

Consumer Reports based each hospital’s score on the following criteria:

• Readmission rates
• Medication communication and discharge instructions
• Infection rate
• Appropriate use of CT scans
• Complication rate
• Mortality rate

Cleveland Clinic earned a better-than-average rating for its ability to contain infections but fared a less-than-average rating for communication. It scored the absolute worst rating for readmission. University Hospitals merited an average rating for infection control and appropriate use of CT scans but received a less-than-average rating for communication and readmission rates.

There’s some good news though. Other Northeast Ohio hospitals received higher ratings. For example, St. John Medical Center in Westlake scored a 62 and Parma Community General Hospital earned a 59.

The rating system is meant to help patients compare hospitals and find the best one, writes Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center Director John Santa on the publication's website.

That’s helpful since, in the next 10 years, more than 2 million people will likely die from medical malpractice, which, the report states, is one of three leading causes of death in the U.S.

For more information about how Consumer Reports bases its ratings, visit http://www.consumerreports.org/health/doctors-hospitals/how-we-rate-hospitals/the-basics/the-basics.htm

Are you shocked to see UH and Cleveland Clinic make the bottom of the barrel? Will these ratings affect your decision on what hospital you go to in the future? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.