By Tim Bonfield
Enquirer staff reporter

People who want to become more-savvy consumers in the face of rising costs can find help from a national Web site that will post comparisons of hospital quality.

A "Quality Check" service was announced Thursday by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations, the nation's leading reviewer of hospital services.

The new Web site compares hospitals on four types of care: heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and pregnancy.

The service will allow consumers to compare hospitals against state and national averages for several quality measures. For example, consumers can learn how often patients surviving heart attacks are prescribed beta blockers, or whether people with pneumonia get blood oxygen tests or how often women suffer significant vaginal tears during childbirth.

For now, information is limited to the four types of care and does not compare costs or the cost-effectiveness of hospital services.

"This is a very significant moment in the evolution of health care information for consumers. It is urgently needed and long overdue," said Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Big insurers have growing interest in consumer-directed health plans that make people more responsible for deciding how much coverage to carry and, in many cases, for paying more of their health care bills.

But it has heretofore been difficult and frustrating to shop around for health care services.

Similar frustrations are being expressed nationwide. Too many people are picking health-care providers based on word-of-mouth, marketing campaigns or price.

"We hope that Quality Check will essentially take the guesswork out of making health care choices," said Dr. Dennis O'Leary, president of the Joint Commission.

Efforts like Quality Check also will push hospitals to get better, experts say.

"Our research shows that making hospital performance measures public significantly increases hospital quality improvement efforts," said Dr. Judith Hibbard, a professor with the University of Oregon's department of planning, public policy and management.

But some say Quality Check is just a first step, that even more information should be made public about hospitals, doctors and other services.

"It is shameful that consumers can get better information about a coffee maker or a toaster oven than they can get about the heart surgeon who might save their lives," Ness said.

E-mail tbonfield@enquirer.com