At Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL), we're committed to helping members make wiser health care choices and decisions. One resource that provides members with hospital performance information is the annual Blue Star Hospital Report.

Measuring Performance in Illinois
The 2007 Blue Star Hospital Report - based on our annual Hospital Profile - provides performance information on 92 contracting, urban Illinois hospitals - across all product lines. The report summarizes the results of quality and safety performance measures that have been reported to the participating hospitals. You can use this information to help select a hospital that best meets your needs.

Hospital performance is reported on 10 indicators in five categories. One blue star could be earned for each indicator for a maximum of 10 blue stars. Each blue star earned is an achievement.

The hospitals are divided into five peer groups based upon: size (number of beds), case mix index (patient severity), scope of teaching programs and complexity of services offered. Eligibility to earn several of the blue stars is based upon a comparison to other hospitals within the same peer group.

Data used to analyze hospital performance comes from multiple sources: BCBSIL claims data, the hospitals, a BCBSIL member survey, and publicly available information from entities such as the Leapfrog Group (a consortium of large companies focused on health care safety, quality and customer value), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and accrediting entities.

View the 2007 Blue Star Hospital Report (pdf 72 kb)

How to Read the Report
Hospitals performance was evaluated on the following categories and indicators. The number and percentage of hospitals earning each blue star is noted below.

Structure

• Accreditation/board certification: Hospital is accredited and provided documentation to BCBSIL by February 2007 that at least 85 percent of medical staff members are board certified. 61 hospitals earned a blue star (63%)
• Participation in state and national quality improvement initiatives: Hospital submitted documentation to BCBSIL by February 2007 of participation that met criteria for involvement in multiple state and national programs. 64 hospitals (70%)

Process

• Leapfrog: Hospital publicly reported to Leapfrog as of 2/28/2007, and received recognition for Full Implementation or Good Progress in at least one of three “Leaps:” computerized physician order entry, ICU physician staffing or safe practices (patient safety). 40 hospitals (43%)
• Hospital Quality Alliance Indicators: Hospital exceeded state or national thresholds in treating three serious medical conditions and preventing surgical infections for the time period of 7/1/2005 to 6/30/2006. 26 hospitals (28%)

Outcomes

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Inpatient Quality Indicators: Hospital was in the best quartile within its peer group for mortality rates for six specific medical conditions for hospital admissions between 10/1/2004 and 9/30/2005. 28 hospitals (30%)
• AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators: Hospital complication rates were better than most other hospitals within its peer group for hospital admissions between 10/1/2004 and 9/30/2005. 38 hospitals (42%)

Member Survey

• Overall satisfaction: Hospital received an overall satisfaction composite score of at least 88 percent on a survey sent to BCBSIL members in 2006. 41 hospitals (49%)
• Education and coordination of care: Hospital scored at least 80 percent on a composite of quality and safety-related 2006 member survey indicators. 48 hospitals (58%)

Note: For nine hospitals (10%), there were too few member responses to evaluate survey data.

Efficiency

• Utilization efficiency: The hospital's actual length of stay compared to the expected length of stay was shorter than the average compared to other hospitals in the peer group, based on BCBSIL 2006 claims. 53 hospitals (58%)
• Administrative efficiency: The hospital submitted at least 90 percent of claims electronically, based on BCBSIL 2006 claims. 84 hospitals (91%)

The report is current as of September 2007.

View the 2007 Blue Star Hospital Report (pdf 72 kb)