I was at a health care conference Wednesday where a good deal of time was spent talking about transparency as it relates not just to cost but quality measures.

One such source is a Medicare website called Hospital Compare. Another - labeled the “gold standard” for comparing hospitals - is called The Leapfrog Hospital Survey.  OK, here’s one more called Health Insight.

I wonder if you’ll be as frustrated by these resources as I was. I wonder also if there’s a message behind the paucity of meaningful data.

Unrelated to hospital quality surveys, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of the May issue of Consumer Reports. The cover story on how to “Pay Less For Your Meds” is a must read.

I can forward a copy if you’ll come shovel my walk!