Compare Hospitals Online Now

New Online Hospital Comparison Tool from Consumer Reports Unveiled

© Lisa Nichols

Compare Hospitals Online, zeafonso
Consumer Reports recently introduced a new online hospital comparison tool. Compare hospitals online to find the most expensive and the cheapest hospitals in your town.

Editors Choice

A new Consumer Reports tool allows users to compare hospitals online. Your Hospital Stay lets website members punch in a state and city then review information about the most expensive and the cheapest hospitals in the area. The tool for comparing hospitals uses information based on the 2008 Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, a study conducted by John Wennberg, M.D., Elliott Fisher, M.D., and colleagues at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Health insurance often pays for only a portion of hospital-related costs. Learn more about the new tool that provides information about the most expensive and the cheapest hospitals to help save money on healthcare.

Using the Online Hospital Comparison Tool

The online hospital comparison tool provides information about average costs of hospitals by metro area, making it easy to find the most expensive and the cheapest hospital care online. The website also provides information about aggressive vs. conservative treatment available from regional hospitals. The Consumer Reports hospital comparison tool defines “aggressive” as having more days in the hospital and more visits from attending physicians. A side note on the website explains that aggressive care isn’t always better. The note states that in cases of life-threatening chronic conditions, more aggressive treatment in the hospital doesn’t always improve patient outcomes and can shorten life.

Most Expensive and Cheapest Hospitals in Portland, Oregon

Plugging in Portland, Oregon into the online tool to compare hospitals in the area netted some interesting results:

New enhancements to the Consumer Reports hospital comparison tool should be arriving soon. A blog post on the website talks about upcoming improvements to the Health area of the site, including an online tool to compare physicians.

More about the Atlas Study Used to Develop the Consumer Reports Hospital Comparison Tool

The Atlas study used to develop the Consumer Reports hospital comparison tool included 4.7 million recipients of traditional Medicare health insurance. The Atlas research group reviewed medical treatment received by patients who were in or out of the hospital during the last two years of their lives. The group studied people who received treatment for one of nine common chronic diseases between 2001 through 2005, were hospitalized on at least one occasion for something other than surgery and were at least 67 years old at the time of death.

Get more tips for saving money on healthcare including comparing PPOs and HMOs and getting help with unpaid medical bills.


The copyright of the article Compare Hospitals Online Now in Health Insurance is owned by Lisa Nichols . Permission to republish Compare Hospitals Online Now in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


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