Dr. Rhonda Meadows

A newly expanded Web site offers Georgia patients detailed cost and quality information on hospitals and other providers in the state, with a focus on readability, a state health official said.

“Most people don’t speak fluid bureaucrat,” said Dr. Rhonda Meadows, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health. In focus groups before the launch of the Web site, “we actually asked people what they would like to see (on the Web site), and how they would like to see it.”

The site aims to help Georgia residents make smart health care decisions, Dr. Meadows said.

This month the department updated its original health information site, launched last winter, to include features focused on hospital and nursing home quality. The site also posts costs of particular surgeries or procedures, links to health inspection reports and allows visitors to compare hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities in Georgia.

The state Department of Community Health faced some initial resistance from providers in the state a couple years ago when the department was planning the site.

Physicians were concerned that there would be administrative burdens from new reporting requirements, Dr. Meadows said. However, the department worked to gather information that was already reported, to avoid adding burdens on providers, she said.

The Georgia Hospital Association, which had just launched its own pair of hospital information sites focused on quality and cost, was concerned about duplication of information, said Kevin Bloye, spokesman for the Georgia Hospital Association.

But he said the GHA realized the new site would have information on more than just hospitals, and began to work with the department on data collection for their site.

“It’s been a good partnership and we support it,” he said. “We’re in an era of transparency and for the patient, that’s a great thing.”