Daily HealthBeat Tip

The good stuff

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Finding a doctor and choosing a hospital - two things we do even though we don't know much about how to do them. A lot of us go with what feels right - if folks seem friendly, that's a good sign.

But not good enough, says the director of HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dr. Carolyn Clancy:

"It's not unlike going to a car mechanic. The people in the shop can be really nice. But if your car still has that rattle when you go home, you haven't gotten quality service." (eight seconds)

To help people find the good stuff, the agency has a new publication, Guide to Health Care Quality: How to Know It When You See It. The publication has checklists on getting good quality health care, and provides Web sites with consumer and professional ratings of doctors and hospitals.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October 12, 2005

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