Quality Care In The Health Care Debate @ (NAPSA)—While the health care reform debate centers on the uninsured, many believe quality of care should be the priority issue. A new Senior Center for Health & Security report highlights that you are five times more likely to die from visiting a hospital than from being uninsured. There are, the report notes, high-quality physician hospitals to turn to, especially for seniors seeking better orthopedic and cardiac care. Citing a Consumer Reports study that scored physician hospitals highest in 19 states, the report also cites other studies demonstrating that smaller, physician-owned hospitals provide a higher nurse-topatient ratio, more physician control of hospital operations and minimalpatient disruption during recovery. Two federal studies covered showed that patients rated physician hospitals 37 points higher than the national average, and that the length of stay was anywhere from 17 percent to 31 percent shorter at physician hospitals than at other hospitals. Many believe this demonstrates that America needs more high-quality physician hospitals, but the political winds may well be blowing in the opposite direction. As the health care reform debate continues, one critical undecided issue is the very existence of physician hospitals and the ability of millions of older Americans to access them for high-quality health care. If health care reform strangles the promise of physician hospitals, some think Medicare beneficiaries will suffer from one of the cruelest forms of health care rationing. The finest hospital care may be denied to them forever. To learn more, visit seniorsfor cures.org.
