Most people go to the hospital with the expectation that they will leave in better health than when they came in. For some people, however, that doesn't end up being the case. Under some circumstances, patients acquire an infection while receiving care.

Effective next year, consumers will be able to compare how well a hospital is doing in preventing acquired infections.

Some say that providing access to such information is setting the grounds for making patient care safer.

"Patients shouldn't have to worry about getting sicker with an infection they catch in the hospital but every year nearly two million Americans do," said Consumers Union's Safe Patient Project director Lisa McGiffert.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates healthcare-associated infections cost hospitals between $28 and $45 billion dollars per year.

There are steps that hospitals can take to help lessen patients' chances of infection. The Safe Patient Project says that a leading Johns Hopkins doctor has devised a checklist that may reduce infections by as much as two-thirds.

Hospitals which take part in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "pay-for-reporting" program will be required to post their infection rate information online. Most hospitals participate in the program to receive higher Medicare payments.