Hospital ratings updated

July 9, 9:34 AMNorfolk Health Care ExaminerEd Lamb

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Virginia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Services

Know what to expect form your hospital.

This is the promise of an online database maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that allows users to find out which services hospitals provide and how the delivery of those services stacks up against that at other facilities.

Hospital Compare, a Medicare service, can be used by anyone to find information about any hospital that provides care for beneficiaries of government health programs. Updates to the ratings became available today.

Clicking on the button labeled "Find and Compare Hospitals" lets users access lists of hospitals by name, city or county, ZIP code or state. Inputting a Virginia Beach ZIP code and specifying a search radius of 50 miles turned up 12 public and private hospitals in the Beach, Chesapeake, Hampton, Norfolk, Newport News, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Elizabeth City, N.C.

Searches can be narrowed according to medical condition and surgical procedure. The database allows users to compare specific ratings on criteria such as the appropriate and timely administration of medications and readmission rates for up to three hospitals at a time.