My Healthcare Options

Posted by Paul in hospital quality, hospital safety on 12 11th, 2008 | no responses

The long, long, long awaited — and perhaps feared — Massachusetts quality and cost site just launched yesterday, entitled MyHealthcareOptions.

Despite a funky stretched out picture on the homepage and a cartoony rating stars that evoke a Mario Brothers outing more than Michelen fine linen, I’ve been having fun poking around the site already.

True, I am giving a webinar about cost and quality today so I would be remiss in not discussing such a site, but I am intrigued by brand promise of the site:

This website can help you answer questions such as:

• My doctor sees patients at two hospitals. Which one should I use?
• Would I get better care for this health problem at my local hospital or a large medical center?
• How does this hospital compare to others for the treatment I need?
• I pay for some of my health care. How can I get quality care at the best price?

I am fascinated by #1 and what it says about the evolving role of the patient and the physician relationship… I will ask our webinar attendees and see what they think about the issue.