The HealthcareChoices site has a lot of info on practices at hospitals, and
US News & World Report ranks all the hospitals in the country in terms of infection rates, morbidity/mortality rates every year. Certainly, you'll want to check to make sure any hospital you go to is
JCAHO-accredited. It's a regulatory agency that ensures compliance with certain Federal regulations as well as making sure you're in compliance with your own policies. They have
National Patient Safety Goals that all accredited hospitals must meet to maintain accreditation.
But... as of 2005, there was not a specific way to check rates on any particular hospital.
ABC Story The
Consumer's Union has links to
state regs for 2006 and info about a
Bill being considered to address the issue. But evidently hospitals do NOT want to publish their infection rates.