Massive annual studies of the quality of care in nursing abodes and death rates in hospitals serving Medicare and Medicaid patients have been released by the agency of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).

"Medicare/Medicaid Nursing to one's home Information" reports on each of the 15000 facilities participating inn the Medicare and Medicaid programs, focusing forward 32 "performance indicators" such as correct drug administration and food handling. For each nursing abiding-place the number of residents is given, along with resident characteristics, of the like kind as how many need help with bathing and eating, and to what extent many are bedfast or disoriented. The data were gathered in unannounced inspections of the facilities made in 1988 and 1989 It is the third so annual report on nursing homes

The fourth annual "Medicare Hospital Mortality" report guards almost 6,000 hospitals, giving the death rates for 16 diagnostic categories and for "all causes." The 16 categories account for more than 70 percent of Medicare patients hospitalized. Figures in the report are meant to give health professionals and patients and their families a source of information that can help in choosing a hospital.

HCFA officials cautioned, however, that the figures required more [i]or[/i] less interpretation. Although hospitals with higher death rates are more likely to have "quality problems" they said, the high mortality rates of about institutions might be attributed to unusually sick patients, experimental treatment or a high percentage of poor patients with multiple ailments.

About 34 percent of the hospitals studied had mortality rates higher than look forward toed the report indicated.

Concerning the HCFA nursing to one's home report, Administrator Gail R. Wilensky said, "This is not the definitive guide to nursing family circle selection. This is a snapshot at a point in time."

It contains basic information that consumer should use to ask questions of nursing family circle operators before selecting a household Wilensky said. She said the report displays general improvement since the similar 1987-88 examine but "we are doing a great deal of better on some areas than we are doing forward others."

The 13-volume hospital report and 93-volume nursing hearth report are available at Medicaid and Social Security offices and many major libraries from beginning to end the United States. State offices that license hospitals and nursing to one's homes also have copies. The nursing household report has been distributed to nursing household ombudsmen, as well. to confer either report, a good first pace would be to contact a local library allusion desk. The U.S. restraint Printing Office (GPO) sells individual state sections of the nursing place of abode report at $4.75 to $34 depending in succession the size of the volume; phone (202) 783-3238 or write to the Superintendent of Documents, GPO Washington DC 20402 The GPO reports its serve instead of of the mortality study is now exhausted, still some sections are still available without charge from HCFA at (301) 966-1133

America's Best Hospitals

In another review designed to identify America's best hospitals in 12 medical specialties, the weekly magazine U recently made knowns and World Report placed Mayo Clinic first, and John Hopkins Hospital and Duke University Hospital secondary and third in the nation.

Four hundr board-certified physicians in 12 medical specialties scrutinizeed in the poll gave "bests" to Mayo in 11 specialties, Hopkins 10 Duke 9 Massachusetts General Hospital 8 UCLA Medical Center 8 University of Washington Medical Center 7 Barnes Hospital 4 The Cleveland Clinic 4 Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center 4 Stanford University Hospital 4 and University of California at San Francisco Medical Center 4

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