Medicare has begun linking quality to payments. One of the ways that they do this is through their hospital readmission reduction program that targets quality of care to specific conditions or procedures suc as acute, myocardial infarction, heart failure, coronary artery, bypass graft surgery, chronic obstructive, pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and elective, primary total hip replacement. They collect this information in a Medicare Compare database or the CMS Patient Safety and Adverse Events Composite, which allows consumers to compare healthcare providers and organizations in their local area.

Access the CMS Patient Safety and Adverse Events Compositewebpage. Locate a hospital of interest to you and its nearest competitor for this hospital. Review and create a spreadsheet to compare data in the following areas: PSI 3, 6, 8, 10