Percent of Hip Replacement Surgery Patients Who Received Appropriate Preventive Antibiotics 

What the graph is saying

For this measure, higher percentages are better. The graph above shows that HealthEast's scores are consistent with the top hospitals in the U.S.

Why is this measure important?

Certain antibiotics are recommended to help prevent wound infection for particular types of surgery. This measure looks at how often hospital surgical patients get the appropriate antibiotic in order to prevent a surgical wound infection.

Infections continue to be the main preventable complication of most surgical procedures. Antibiotics are medicines to prevent and treat infections. By following the standard guidelines for timing and giving you the correct antibiotic drug, hospitals can reduce your risk of getting a wound infection after surgery.

Hospitals can reduce the risk of wound infection after surgery by making sure patients get the right medicines at the right time on the day of their surgery. These quality measures show some of the standards of care.

Description above from the United States Department of Health & Human Services Hospital Compare web site: www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov

* The "Top U.S. Hospitals" represent the top 10% of all hospitals reporting information to Hospital Compare.