Hey CMS – Compare THIS  I’m away on a business trip and happened
to read an article in the USA Today sitting outside my hotel
room door that ticked me off. The feds spent $1.9 million in
advertising to push their “Hospital Compare” web site. They want
the public to compare different aspects of hospital care before
deciding to go to the hospital. Another article on the topic
from Yahoo is here.  Supposedly the ads are to further the Bush
administration’s goal to “increase transparency” in the health
care system.  Do the ads mention that the “quality” initiatives
requiring that antibiotics be given within 4 hours of a
pneumonia diagnosis actually “raises the risk of misdiagnosis
and inappropriate use of antibiotics?” In other words, if
doctors follow the initiatives, patients can potentially do
worse.  Do the ads mention that another initiative requiring
doctors to perform blood cultures before giving antibiotics has
absolutely no effect on clinical outcome? Do they mention that
this requirement increases the l