This article describes the development of a reliable measurement instr
ument for the quality of perinatal care. The Hospital Perinatal Mortal
ity Comparison (HPMC) predicts the expected perinatal mortality for in
dividual hospitals, based on the perinatal mortality experienced in a
group of similar newborns in a large reference population. Out of the
76 hospitals analyzed in 1990, 2 performed significantly better and 5
performed significantly worse than expected according to the logistic
regression model. These results may lead to the identification of oppo
rtunities for improving the process of medical care in these hospitals
.