Geoffrey Schorr
By Geoffrey E. Schorr
Consumers in Texas are kept in the dark when it comes to researching complaints and inspections for Texas hospitals. Powerful Texas hospital lobbyists have successfully lobbied to pass laws that restrict public access to important historical information relating to hospitals. Citizens in Texas who wish to engage in researching hospitals to find information on topics such as medical mistakes, post procedure infection rates and staffing levels will find that the information sought is not available to the public.
In 1999, an influential and wealthy hospital lobbyist group was successful in its efforts to have an amendment added to a routine bill that passed and became law. The law that passed requires the state to keep most information relating to hospital complaints and inspections private. Since the enactment of the law members of the public may search various state websites for information, but will find very little. The public may also request information pursuant to an open-records request, however; most information the public is allowed access to is very limited, and most documents produced by the state in response to such a request are usually heavily redacted.
The data being kept from the public deprives Texas citizens from making informed decisions relating to where to go to receive medical care. Recently, a hospital representative and a proponent of keeping the public in the dark, stated to a media reporter that the information, if it were available to the public, would be too difficult for the public to decipher, and could result in mass hysteria. What an insult to insinuate that Texas consumers lack the intelligence and/or sophistication to gather and decipher information that would assist consumers in making important medical decisions for themselves and/or their loved ones.
With technology today, consumers are able to engage in extensive research before making final decisions. By simply researching on the internet consumers are able to educate themselves on a vast array of topics. For example, consumers regularly research information about vehicles before making a purchase. Research may include the safety ratings of a vehicle, maintenance statistics, safety reports, engine performance, fuel economy, etc. Consumers often also research information for things such as personal electronics, household appliances, airfares, professional services, etc. Consumers in Texas can research information about contractors before having their roof replaced, but prior to having a procedure at a hospital consumers are not allowed to research to learn how many patients have died at any particular hospital as the result of medical mistakes.
Before entrusting your health and life, or the health and life of a loved one to a health care provider, shouldn’t you be able to arm yourself with as much information as possible in order to make an informed and confident decision? Unfortunately, some hospital lobbyists and representatives, as well as some Texas lawmakers, support the current laws and believe consumers should be kept in the dark. However, it is my strong belief that most Texas consumers would argue there should be more transparency when it comes to hospital mistakes and complaints. For example, shouldn’t a consumer be allowed to find out statistics for post procedure staph infections for a hospital the consumer may be considering for a procedure? If a consumer has options and learns that one hospital has a very high rate of post procedure infections, and another hospital has a very low rate, wouldn’t this information be valuable to the consumer’s decision making process. An example that I am personally familiar with is one involving the death of a seven year old boy in 2006 at a Dallas area hospital during what the parents were told was a routine and benign day procedure called an aortic balloon valvuloplasty. Still today, more than three years after the death of the little boy, the hospital’s website still claims that there have been no reported deaths in older children who undergo this procedure. Thus, parents who may do research to determine whether they want to take their child to this particular hospital for the same aortic balloon valvuloplasty procedure will find inaccurate and false information on the hospital’s website, and will have no other place to research to find the truth. Instead of parents reading the false information which may provide a false sense of security, shouldn’t parents know the truth – that at least one child has died from the procedure? What logic is there in preventing parents from learning such important information in order to make informed, competent decisions for their child?
Texas consumers should demand their state representatives act immediately to allow public access to important historical hospital data, and demand that Texas laws be changed to provide more protections to families, and less to wealthy corporate interests. In stark contrast to at least one hospital representative’s views, Texas consumers should have the right to access the hidden information described herein, and we possess the sophistication, intellect and ability to make decisions for ourselves when it comes to health care.