Hospitals find way to make care cheaper: Make it better

For two decades, a Pennsylvania agency has published death and complication rates from more than 50 types of treatments and surgery at hospitals. The state has found that publishing results can prompt hospitals to improve, and that good medical treatment is often less expensive than bad care. The Senate Finance Committee's sweeping health bill would make available $75 million annually for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop methods of improving quality, including potentially publishing outcomes.