Rate Your Workers' Compensation Doctor?

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has initiated serveral programs to improve the delivery of medical care. HHS no longer wants to pay hospitals for "medical mistakes" and has now announced a program to rate the medical facilities.

“CMS’ goal for updating and enhancing the Hospital Compare Web site is to provide usable and accurate information about hospital performance to providers and communities that will encourage hospitals to excel in the quality of care they provide,” said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems. “With these new enhancements, consumers and health care providers will be able to look at individual hospital mortality scores. We hope that this new information will cement the Web site’s role as a key driver in improving the quality and reliability of care in the nation’s hospitals.”

This interesting concept is one that may interest the workers' compensation insurance companies as well as governmental agencies that regulate the programs. The opportunity to provide a comparison of services may likely lead to the delivery of better medical care for injured workers.