Companionship for Elderly in Escondido Questions Mandatory Reporting for Hospitals

In an effort to give the public more information about just what happens in hospitals, some areas of the country have instituted mandatory reporting rules. These rules require hospitals to release public reports detailing both successes and failures in different fields. There is controversy over mandatory reporting, with one detailed study illustrating just why.

Unintended Consequences

As professionals in companionship for elderly in Escondido, we read this week that investigators studied a group of Massachusetts hospitals to find out what effects mandatory reporting was having on them. They concentrated on issues related to one specific heart procedure, and their findings were troubling. The evidence suggests that, because the hospitals knew that negative outcomes would create bad press, they declined to accept many patients who could have benefited from the surgery.

Numbers Aren’t Everything

The basic numbers in the reporting system gave the hospitals in question better scores—that is, lower incidences of patient deaths as a result of receiving the heart procedure. But a closer look shows that those numbers probably improved simply because the hospitals changed their policies and began to refuse to treat high-risk patients. This is despite the fact that many of those hospitals are fully equipped and staffed to handle high risk situations with a good chance of success.

Hospitals and Companionship for Elderly in San Diego County

There are arguments on both sides of the mandatory reporting issue. But as companionship for elderly in San Diego County, we are concerned any time a reporting requirement appears to lead hospitals toward refusing high risk patients that need care, just to protect their own reputation. Transparency before the public is important, but if it is handled incorrectly it can adversely affect the abilities of these critical institutions to do their jobs well without fear of bad press.