New York City Puts Hospital Error Data Online

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, the nation’s largest public health system, plans to begin publicly releasing data today on infection and death rates at its 11 hospitals, in response to widespread concern about deadly, preventable and costly hospital-acquired conditions and pressure to crack open the shrouded culture of many hospitals.

The city’s move, driven by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s effort to make public health a centerpiece of his administration and by the hospital corporation’s recent focus on improving patient safety, is a bold step in an industry that has long resisted transparency, experts said.

In posting the safety and performance information on the hospital corporation’s Web site, www.nyc.gov/hhc, the public hospitals, which treat 1.3 million patients a year, are far ahead of the industry, health care experts and consumer advocates said.

“It does focus on the underbelly of health care,” Alan D. Aviles, president of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, said in an interview. “But if you want to make improvements, you have to acknowledge the underbelly.”