AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., issued the following statement today on the launch of Hospital Compare, a consumer Web site created by members of the Hospital Quality Alliance:

"The AAMC is proud to represent the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals in the launch of Hospital Compare -- a consumer-friendly Web site that allows Americans across the country, for the first time ever, to access information about the quality of care at their local hospitals using government-verified data voluntarily provided by the hospitals themselves. All eligible members of the AAMC's Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems have submitted their patient care data to this initiative.

As centers of medical education and training, the nation's teaching hospitals believe the Hospital Compare project is particularly important. The project complements teaching hospitals' goal of integrating and promoting healthcare quality as part of the educational process for future physicians. As care-providers, teaching hospitals are committed to establishing reliable, understandable, and meaningful national quality measures to assist patients and their families in making informed decisions about the care they receive. As major centers for medical research and technology, teaching hospitals are often where the information necessary to construct reliable quality measures is identified and developed. And as places where new physicians enhance their patient care skills, teaching hospitals train tomorrow's doctors to provide the safest medical care available.

It is important for consumers to understand, when they review comparative information, that teaching hospitals often care for more severely ill patients than other hospitals do. These patients often have longer hospital stays and receive more complex surgeries and procedures. Some of these complexities are reflected in the hospital data, but do not connote a lesser quality of care.

The launch of Hospital Compare is a great beginning. The information posted today comes from the first, limited iteration of data. Members of the Hospital Quality Alliance are working to refine this tool and to expand the number of quality measures and health conditions featured. The addition of more data will further improve the integrity of the project and will allow the Web site to become an even more effective tool for consumers as they make informed decisions about their health care.

The AAMC and our member institutions remain dedicated to providing this service to the public and to demonstrating our accountability for improving the quality of care for our patients."

The Association of American Medical Colleges is a nonprofit association representing all 125 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at aamc/newsroom.