A new study suggests there's a huge difference in care when you compare the best and poorest performing hospitals in the country. Researchers say you're have a 72% lower chance of dying in a five star hospital than in a one star facility. Details on how the survey rates procedures at area hospitals.

The healthcare ratings company HealthGrades examined nearly 40 million Medicare hospital records from 2006 through last year. Researchers looked at death and complication rates in 17 conditions and procedures.

Two hospitals in our region are among those receiving high ratings. Altoona Regional Health System gets five stars for its heart valve surgery and for its surgery on the carotid artery in the neck. Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown receives five stars for its valve replacement surgery.

The survey shows that Pennsylvania has a high percentage of hospitals that earn five stars, but Dr. Ron May, a senior physician with Healthgrades says, "what we're see in Pennsylvania is a lot of variation within a hospital . You have certain hospitals that are performing pretty well in certain areas, but other areas not so much."

Dr. May says in order to get the best care, you should check out how your local hospital performs the procedures you're interested in.

To reach the Healthgrades hospital survey, log onto: http://www.healthgrades.com .