Website tells all about Louisiana health care facilities

Louisiana residents now have easy access to detailed, accurate information on the cost, quality and performance of health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, as well as health plans and prescription drugs. The state has launched a new website called HealthFinderLA.gov, through which consumers – including children – will be able to access educational materials on living healthier lives, find the usual and customary charges for the Top 100 most commonly prescribed medications, and access information comparing various quality and patient safety measures in Louisiana hospitals, nursing homes and health plans. The site will provide key performance data on health care facilities and health plans, including death rates, readmission rates, dozens of nationally accepted quality and performance measures for health plans, and complication rates for procedures. The website is a product of the Consumer’s Right to Know Act the legislature passed in 2008, which was part of the governor’s legislative package and was authored by Sen. Willie Mount of Lake Charles. The act authorizes DHH to collect a broad range of health care information and publish it on the Internet.