How to Use The Quality Reports
The Maryland Health Care Quality Reports’ website lets you know how well health care providers are doing. The homepage features health care topics that may be of interest to you. You can click on the caption below the picture or chart for more information. The following topics are covered under Quality Reports:
Consumer Ratings
Preventing Infections
Health Care Costs
Health Care Workers Influenza (Flu) Vaccinations
This website has five main sections that cover information about hospitals, physicians, long-term care, health plans, and surgical centers. Click on a section for more information.
The Guide includes a broad range of performance and quality information for each Maryland hospital. The information can be used to better understand the performance of a specific hospital or to compare the performance of several hospitals on a topic of interest. The following options are available on the Hospital Guide:
Find a hospital- search for a specific hospital or see which hospitals are nearby.
Browse Health Topics- Find detailed information on a variety of health and medical topics reported on the Quality Reports site.
Consumer rating- see how well a hospital was rated by patients who were treated at the hospital.
Emergency care data- view the average ER wait times before treatment or admission to a hospital.
Infections data- view data on bloodstream infections, surgical site infections, Clostridioides Difficile infections, and percentage of healthcare personnel vaccinated for the flu.
Quality measures- review your hospital’s performance on a variety of evidence-based metrics related to topics such as cardiac care, surgical care, and patient safety.
Maternity and newborn measures- review your hospital’s performance on practice patterns and results of care.
Price transparency- identify the most common medical conditions and average charges by hospital.
This section includes several resources available to consumers who want information on physicians in Maryland including a link to the Maryland Board of Physicians and CMS’ Physician Compare, (please note that only physicians who currently accept Medicare payment are included in this search feature.) A consumer checklist document is provided as a tool to help consumers plan for a visit with a doctor.
The Maryland Consumer Guide to Long Term Care Services helps consumers understand the spectrum of services available including services that can be provided in the home (hospice and home health services), community (adult day care, senior centers), or facilities such as assisted living and nursing homes. You can find facilities by type, name, location, or overall rating. There is also a Quick Compare feature that shows quality ratings for all nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospices.
The Guide includes a broad range of information such as:
• types of clinical and assistance services provided,
• agency accreditation or certification,
• cost per day information for adult day care, assisted living residences, and nursing homes,
• federal and state quality measures,
• consumer ratings of care for each nursing home,
• photos of nursing homes and assisted living facilities with directions to the facilities,
• a services search section helps consumers locate and compare Maryland long-term care services: nursing homes, assisted-living residences, home health agencies, adult day care facilities, and hospice programs. Users can sort by county to find services near their home, and
• a resource section includes links to federal, state, and local websites to assist in answering questions about prescription drugs, legal resources for seniors and persons with disabilities; resources for family caregivers, and availability of transportation services.
Use the link that follows to go directly to the LTC Guide:
http://mhcc.maryland.gov/consumerinfo/longtermcare/Default.aspx
The Guide to Long Term Care Services includes results of Experience of Care surveys for patients receiving home health services and family members of long stay nursing home residents.
For more information on the Maryland Consumer Guide to Long Term Care, please contact Stacy Howes, Chief, Long Term Care Quality Initiatives, Center for Quality Measurement and Reporting, 410 764-3575 ([email protected])
The Maryland Health Care Commission began public reporting of quality and performance measures for Maryland commercial health benefit plans in 1997. Information is available on the Health Plan Guide for 2014 through 2019.
The Health Plan Guide includes detailed information on health benefit plan performance for an extensive list of quality measures and indicators. The Guide provides answers to the following for each plan:
1. What services are provided?
2. How effective is the plan in providing services to members?
3. How do members rate their experiences?
4. How do members rate their satisfaction?
For more information on the Health Plan Guide, please contact Stacy Howes, Chief, Long Term Care Quality Initiatives, Center for Quality Measurement and Reporting, 410 764-3575 ([email protected])
The Ambulatory Surgery Facility Consumer Guide provides general information on ambulatory surgery facilities in Maryland. You can search for a facility by name, zip code or medical specialty.
For more information on the Ambulatory Surgery Facility Guide, please contact Mariama Gondo, Chief, Outpatient Quality Initiatives 410-764-3377 ([email protected])