Categories: HealthHealth InsuranceInsuranceLife

Patients are 3X more likely to die at America’s worst hospitals

Michael Timmermann | March 22nd, 2017

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If you choose a hospital based solely on convenience, you could be making a deadly mistake.

A comprehensive new study published in the scientific journal PLOS One found that the survival rates for the best and worst hospitals can be frightfully different.

Choosing the right hospital can be a matter of life and death

As the New York Times reported, the study concluded that patients at the worst U.S. hospitals were three times more likely to die than if they had been rushed to one of the best hospitals.

On top of that, those who went to bad hospitals were 13 times more likely to have complications.

The study looked at 22 million hospital admissions and analyzed 24 outcomes, adjusting the results based on various factors like income and age.

Results were kept anonymous, so we don’t have a list of the best and worst hospitals to share with you.

However, to learn more about hospitals where you live, Medicare.gov has a handy comparison tool to help you review hospitals based on their overall star rating.

Here’s an example of what the results page will look like:

Image: Medicare.gov

Researchers involved in the study said that how well a hospital is run makes a real difference, so think about your previous visits and the interactions you had with doctors and nurses.

In an emergency, would you feel comfortable being taken to that facility?

“I’ve visited enough hospitals over the years that you can tell when the culture at the hospital is haphazard and not really that caring,” Clark said on the radio show.

Keeping your eyes open could be the difference between life and death for you or a loved one.

And with that in mind, it’s always a good idea to have a friend or family member at the hospital when a loved one is being treated — that way there’s someone in the room to pay attention and watch over everything that’s going on.