Choosing A Hospital

NEW HAVEN — If you need the services of a hospital, it is important to find one well-suited to your area of concern. The choices are many: general or specialized hospitals, nonprofit or for-profit hospitals, and hospitals that teach and treat or those that strictly serve patients.

For those who are weighing the options, Yale-New Haven Hospital has published a fact sheet called “The Benefits of Choosing an Academic Medical Center.”

The fact sheet explains that academic medical centers are unique in that they provide access to highly skilled specialists who teach at the affiliated school. These specialists are familiar with up-to-the-minute technology and clinical research trials. They are more likely to have access to breakthrough therapies, and advanced diagnostic and monitoring equipment not yet available elsewhere. 

Studies show that teaching hospitals, in general, provide better quality of care for a range of conditions and patients. One well-publicized report in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) suggested that patients with acute myocardial infarction treated in teaching hospitals tended to receive a better quality of care and have lower mortality rates than those treated at nonteaching hospitals.

Readers can get a free copy of “The Benefits of Choosing an Academic Medical Center,” by calling Yale-New Haven Hospital at 203-688-2000 or toll-free at 888-700-6543. The fact sheet is also available online at www.ynhh.org/choice/academic_hospital.html.