Massachusetts, the state that models our soon-to-be health care system, is struggling to decide whether to post each hospital's death rates. Health Care for All, a Boston-based consumer advocacy group, wants these numbers available but after two years the state’s Health Care Quality and Cost Council still isn't sure it's appropriate. And they are right. The problem is that the public and the media wouldn't know what to do with this information. What if one hospital has sicker demographics than another one? Would hospitals stop seeing certain patients or doing riskier life saving surgeries on patients if it would doom them in the end? Grading sounds good but sometimes there is more than meets the eyes behind these numbers. Here is a crazy thought. How about posting all the prices at each hospital? That would be a better use of transparency.
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