During a time when we, patients, are supposed to behave more like consumers of health care, we have very little information that will help us compare the quality of care from one provider to the next. Take colonoscopies. I needed one last year, so I set out to find the best one in Boston. I discovered: 1) there are no uniform quality measures 2) some doctors track important measures, including polyp detection rates and perforation rates, but no one collects or publishes this information 3) there are big differences in the rates doctors shared with me, differences that could make a difference in whether colon cancer is detected early or late. So I set out to establish some quality measures and then post data on these measures from some of the largest provider groups in Boston. I also posted some general information about how much the cost of a colonoscopy varies in Boston. Again, with price, there is very little uniformity. Some facilities send patients one bill, others two (from the physician and from the facility) and some send a third bill from the anesthesiologist. I wrote a separate story about the ridiculous guidance I got from Medicare about how that agency sets its price and the steps consumers would have to take to determine and compare the Medicare price. I include this story in my submission. My goal was to give patients a starting point when searching for the best colonoscopy in Boston.
