| For Immediate Release | ||
| Contact: Joe Martin, Communications Director | ||
| # 717-232-6787 | ||
State to Release New Quarterly Hospital Performance Numbers
In an effort to provide health care purchasers, providers and consumers with the most timely, up-to-date information possible, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) will begin releasing Hospital Performance Report data every three months, instead of just once a year, on a rolling quarterly basis. The first such release, titled the “Winter Update”, will be released on Friday, December 19, 2003, and will only be available on the PHC4 website:
www.phc4.org.
“Instead of just once a year, Pennsylvanians will now have access to performance results about their hospitals every three months,” stated Marc P. Volavka, Executive Director of PHC4. “Nowhere else is such timely information available.”
By law, hospitals are required to submit a wide array of health care data to PHC4 every quarter. Historically, PHC4 has published its Hospital Performance Report, once a year, based on those submissions. This new approach will add the most current quarter of data submitted by Pennsylvania hospitals, drop off the oldest quarter, and provide an updated analysis of hospital mortality rates, readmissions, lengths of hospital stays and hospital charges using the newest data. Each release will include four quarters of data. PHC4 still plans to release its annual Hospital Performance Report in late Fall each year.
Key Facts
· The quarterly updates will be web-based only; hard copy reports will not be released.
· PHC4 will continue to release its annual Hospital Performance Report in late Fall each year. Those results will be web-based and available in hard copy.
· Each quarterly release will have one year of data embedded in the analysis, on a rolling quarterly basis. For each new release, the oldest quarter will be dropped off, and the newest quarter added to the analysis.
· The updated results will be posted online on the published release date. Embargoed results will not be sent out ahead of time. The web data will be for immediate release.