Although Tampa General Hospital was recently ranked the second-best hospital in Florida by U.S. News & World Report, and ranked first last year, Consumer Reports’ new guide puts TGH at the bottom of the list for post-surgery recovery of elderly patients in Florida, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Also at the bottom are Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Shands at the University of Florida and Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Consumer Reports reached its conclusions by analyzing Medicare claims data from various procedures and then evaluated the hospitals based on whether those patients died in the hospital or stayed longer than expected. A TGH spokesman said billing data do not give as full as a picture as clinical records since patients coming in for one procedure might have other medical problems present as well.
For more insight on how hospital ratings conflict, see “Hospital Ratings Are in the Eye of the Beholder” from Kaiser Health News.