WASHINGTON – Hospitals would make information about patients' experiences at their facilities publicly available under a plan from a public-private collaborative that wants to improve the nation's hospitals by measuring and reporting on the care they deliver.

In March, the government unveiled a Web site that allows consumers to compare the quality of care at more than 4,200 hospitals in the United States. The site contains 17 measures of heart-attack care, heart failure and pneumonia care. Chip Khan, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, said the Hospital Quality Alliance plans to expand those measures and provide information on patients' hospital experience. The Hospital Quality Alliance is a public-private group that includes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, consumer groups and organizations such as the American Medical Association.

Gerry Shea, assistant to the president of government affairs for the AFL-CIO, called the Hospital Compare Web site a "watershed event," but said it is a modest set of measures and that more are needed.

"People want to compare data on their own experiences," Shea told attendees at a Capitol Hill briefing Monday sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform.

Margaret O'Kane, president of the National Committee for Quality Assurance, said information on the quality of care for other providers should be made publicly available. O'Kane also called for providers to be rewarded financially for the use of information technology. Although she said IT isn't a panacea for the healthcare system, she likened technology to a central nervous system necessary to improve the care that providers give.

Elliot Sussman, MD, CEO of Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylvania, agreed, saying IT can have an effect on patient safety. Lehigh Valley installed computerized physician order entry three years ago and has since reduced medication errors. In addition, the hospital bar codes medications to ensure patients receive the correct medications in the appropriate dose. The hospital this year will ban physicians from writing orders on paper, he said.

The Hospital Compare Web site is voluntary and hospitals have control over auditing the information. Michael McMullan, deputy director for the Center for Beneficiary Services, said some of the issues surrounding information audits still need to be worked out.

But O'Kane predicted that the market would create information sources that make it easier for consumers to compare information on the quality of care.

"We can't underestimate the impact that transparency has on changing everything," she said.