In these circumstances, it is especially important to know about the infection rates in hospitals or nursing homes you are considering for healthcare for you or a loved one. Fortunately Florida state government agrees that this information is vital and has gone to a great deal of time and expense to make it available to the Florida public. Representatives of the Florida Department of Health inspect hospitals and nursing homes and collect data on a wide variety of issues.

You can now compare infection rates from one hospital to another by a simple and quick internet search. The Florida Health Finder allows you to search by health condition, hospital or ambulatory surgical center. You can identify the health-care provider by county or name. You can compare length of stay and charges, mortality rates, complications and infection rates, and facility profiles.

A search to compare infection rates in Volusia County revealed that as of the date of this writing Halifax Health in Daytona Beach and Florida Hospital Ormond Memorial were listed as having an infection rate “higher-than-expected.”  This rating was for “infections due to medical care.” The Agency explained that this means the facility had, “More complications/infections than expected given how sick patients were.” “The results shown [on the site] are posted as reported and certified by health care facilities to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Florida Center for Health Information and Policy Analysis. Th[e] data is effective as of  February 25, 2009.”

In order to avoid medical malpractice and death from serious infections in a hospital in Volusia County, Daytona Beach, Deltona and Ormond Beach it is critical to compare complication and infection rates before elective surgery.