Uncle Sam wants to help you pick a hospital.

In a $2 million advertising campaign, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services placed ads in newspapers across the country today, including The Dallas Morning News, promoting a Web site it runs where people can compare local hospitals on cost and quality.

For instance, the site gives the average amount Medicare paid North Texas hospitals for treating a heart attack (without major complications) between October 2006 and June 2007. The cost: $4,900 to $5,900.

Of the 46 Dallas-area hospitals included in the study, Medicare paid Presbyterian Hospital of Denton the most for such a patient: $10,461. Medicare paid the least to Las Colinas Medical Center in Irving: $4,164.

Medicare payments can vary because of numerous factors, the site explains, including whether the medical center is a teaching hospital (which typically has higher costs arising from its educational function) or treats a high percentage of low-income patients (who may have poorer health in general).

Medicare also looks at criteria that can affect the quality of care.

In Wednesday's Morning News ad, Baylor's Heart and Vascular Hospital is listed as best at giving patients antibiotics one hour before surgery – a step proven to save lives – and in customer satisfaction for giving patients help when they request it.

Other categories in which hospitals are compared include treatment of chronic lung illness and diabetes.

Dr. Paul Convery, chief medical officer at Baylor Health Care System, said that of all the quality studies being announced – and there are many – the government's quarterly updated Hospital Compare Web site "is probably the standard most hospitals are looking at."

In June, the Hospital Compare Web site will begin reporting mortality rates from pneumonia, said Kerry Weems, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

A Medicare & Medicaid Services spokesman said ailments are added to the hospital comparative study based on whether the condition is common and how much information is available.