A new study of Medicare patients found that people who were hospitalized with a heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia did much better at busier hospitals that treat these problems all the time. “Busier hospitals on average tended to have lower rates of death from these three common conditions than smaller hospitals,” states Alicia Chang from the Associated Press.
The study showed that the risk of death within a month of a patient’s admission to a large hospital was 11 percent lower for heart attacks, 9 percent lower for heart failure and 5 percent lower for pneumonia. This doesn’t mean that if you are suffering from a heart attack you should contemplate which hospital to go to; you should still head to the closest hospital. However, “for people with chronic conditions, there is the opportunity for patients to shop around in advance,” says Chang.
While it may not be a good idea to shop around for the best hospital to go to while having a medical emergency, it is a good idea to shop around for any other medical procedure you may need by using PriceDoc.com, which connects you to affordable, quality doctors and allows you to compare prices.
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