SHEA's Consumer Retort

Kudos to SHEA for publishing a statement on Consumer Reports' article on teaching hospitals and hospital quailty ratings, which include infection prevention metrics. Here's the money quote:

Buried in the methodology, the publisher of Consumer Reports agrees that comparisons must be done carefully, but the article does not reflect this caution. Instead, the article draws broad conclusions about the quality and safety of care throughout entire health systems based on one measurement gathered from a single unit in each hospital.

While Consumer Reports may know how to evaluate refrigerators, they have a long way to go in order to produce a high quality assessment of health care.