If you live in an area with more than one hospital, how can you learn which one is best for the medical care that you need. New databases are helping take some of the guesswork out of the process.

U.S. News and World Report's America's Best Hospitals covers the top 50 hospitals in different categories of care.

Hospital Compare is a service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It provides information on how well hospitals care for patients with heart attacks, heart failure, lung disease, pneumonia, diabetes, or chest pain, or who need one of almost 30 procedures, ranging from angioplasty and pacemaker implantation to gallbladder surgery, hip replacement, and prostate surgery.

The Leapfrog Group, started by large employers to prompt hospitals to improve quality of care and reduce errors, has amassed a database that includes many hospitals. Participation is voluntary, so not every hospital is in the database.

The independent Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 17,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States, has created Quality Check. It uses data from the accreditation process and other information to create reports on hospitals.

HealthGrades is a Colorado-based company that independently rates medical providers nationwide. It gives hospitals one, three, or five stars for 28 common procedures and conditions, such as valve replacement surgery and pancreatitis. The stars are based on death and complication rates.