New information about the quality of outpatient and emergency care in U.S. hospitals is now available on the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website.

At the site (found by clicking the "Compare Care Quality" links at http://www.healthcare.gov), people now can find data gleaned from Medicare claims about how well hospitals do in preventing infections in outpatient surgical patients and whether hospitals are using proven therapies, as well as other information.

CMS has been posting similar information on inpatient care on the website http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov since 2005, and that site has now been updated to include 30-day mortality and readmission information for patients admitted for a heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia.

Data on the area's two major centers, UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC Shadyside collectively, and Allegheny General Hospital, show that UPMC did better than the national average for deaths among heart failure and pneumonia patients -- about 8 percent versus about 11 percent -- and close to the national average of 16.2 percent for its death rate among heart attack patients. AGH was at the national average in all three categories.

UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC Shadyside's readmission rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia patients was no different than the national rate, while AGH's readmission rate for pneumonia patients was worse than the national average, 22 percent compared with the national average of 18.3 percent. The AGH readmission rate for heart attack and heart failure patients was at the national average.

According to the data, 62 percent of outpatients undergoing surgery at AGH received the right kind of antibiotic compared with 99 percent at UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC Shadyside.

But in many areas, there appeared to be minimal differences. For example, UPMC patients with pneumonia were given antibiotics within six hours 99 percent of the time, versus 96 percent of the time at AGH. But 62 percent of AGH patients said their rooms and bathrooms were always clean, compared with 55 percent at UPMC Shadyside and UPMC Presbyterian.

The data do not show how many claims were reviewed, although some entries carried a notation that the number of cases was too small to evaluate how well the hospital was doing.

The new outpatient information points out possible instances of excessive care, as well as inadequate care. For example, CMS officials say one-third of Medicare patients complaining of lower back pain underwent magnetic resonance imaging "rather than trying more recommended -- and potentially safer -- treatment first, such as physical therapy."

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