The Delaware Department of Health and Social Services updates its CostAware website again.
Earlier this year DHSS launched a new and enhanced version of the website designed to boost health care cost transparency in Delaware by comparing health care costs and quality based on medical claims.
Now, more enhancements are added, including quality measures and top procedures reports.
DHSS Director of Healthcare Reform Steven Costantino says there are two hospital quality measures.
"The biggest thing on the quality side is the patient experience. So we're now rating the kind of relationship between the patient and the doctor in terms of how they're communicating with each other and also rates of patient safety,” said Costantino. “So those are really two key indicators about the quality of healthcare in the state of Delaware."
Costantino says patient safety focuses on if you have to go back after a procedure.
"Rates of early elective deliveries, complications, readmissions after like for example a knee or hip replacement, and readmission after any kind of a discharge, and based on any of the causes that might have caused that readmission," Costantino.
Top procedures reports consist of the top 10 medical procedures performed in the state based on the number claims and total spending, and they can be filtered by gender, age group, and year.
There will also be quality measures for Accountable Care Organizations which will include patient rating of provider, access to timely care, appropriate treatment for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and depression, and screening rates for breast and colon cancer.
It’s available at costaware.dhss.delaware.gov.
