New Hospital Ranking System Measures Unnecessary Treatments

Abstract: “One important metric that has not been measured before for individual hospitals is how often hospitals deliver unnecessary treatments and tests, explains Brownlee. “A patient who comes to the hospital because they have fainted generally does not need an MRI or CT scan. We found that at many hospitals, patients who fainted were getting an unnecessary head imaging test. Unnecessary services put patients at needless risk of harm, but they also waste money and resources.”