Department of Health

Choosing a Hospital

This Web site provides you with several quality measures and tools for comparison that can help you in your evaluation of hospitals. The following checklist includes other steps you may wish to take before choosing a hospital.

Ask your doctor or health care provider the following questions:

• Which hospitals do you personally work with?
• Which hospital would you recommend for my condition and why?
• Were your other patients treated well at that hospital?

It will also be useful to know whether the hospital:

• is accredited as meeting health and safety standards by a national organization such as the The Joint Commission;
• monitors, evaluates, and improves its quality of care;
• is conveniently located for you;
• has sufficient visiting hours and other rules that meet your needs;
• is clean and comfortable;
• has rooms that offer privacy.

Your insurance company or health plan will also be able to provide crucial information, such as whether:

• there are restrictions on which hospitals you can go to for non-emergency care;
• the amount you have to pay depends on which hospital you use.