Want to stay alive? Then make sure you go only to a top rated hospital!
In a very large study of outcomes at each of the nations (US) 5,000 non-federal hospitals found that there is a very wide gap in quality between the nation’s best hospitals and all the other hospitals.
The study, issued by HealthGrades, an independent health care ratings organization, claims that patients at highly rated hospitals have a 52 percent lower chance of dying compared with the U.S. hospital average! yes, I said a 52% lower chance of dying!
The study also found those that hospitals that have received the Stroke Certification from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) had an eight percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate than hospitals that have not received this certification.
The study examined nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records from the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. The study evaluated trends in mortality and complication rates at the hospitals.
The new 2010 ratings for individual hospitals are available at HealthGrades’ public Web site designed to help patients compare the quality of care at their local hospitals for 28 different procedures and treatments, from hip replacement to bypass surgery.
“The fact is, patients are twice as likely to die at low-rated hospitals than at highly rated hospitals for the same diagnoses and procedures,” said Rick May, MD, an author of the HealthGrades study.
The study also found the following:
• Overall, in hospital, risk-adjusted mortality at the nation’s hospitals improved, on average, 10.99% from 2006 through 2008.
• Across all 17 procedures and diagnoses in which mortality was studied, there was an approximate 71.64% lower chance of dying in a five-star rated hospital compared to a one-star rated hospital.
• Across all 17 procedures and diagnoses studied, there was an approximate 51.53% lower chance of dying in a five-star rated hospital compared to the national average.
• If all hospitals performed at the level of a five-star rated hospital across the 17 procedures and diagnoses studied, 224,537 Medicare lives could potentially have been saved from 2006 through 2008.
• Approximately 57% (127,488) of the potentially preventable deaths were associated with just four diagnoses: sepsis (44,622); pneumonia (29,251); heart failure (26,374) and respiratory failure (27,241).
• Over the last three studies, Ohio and Florida consistently have had the greatest percentage of hospitals in the top 15% for risk-adjusted mortality complications.
• Across all procedures in which complications were studied, there was a 79.69% lower chance of experiencing one or more in
patient complication in a five-star rated hospital compared to a one-star rated hospital.
• Across all procedures studied, there was a 61.22% lower chance of experiencing one or more inhospital complications in a five-star rated hospital compared to the U.S. hospital average.
• If all hospitals performed at the level of a five-star rated hospital, 110,687 orthopedic in hospital complications may have been avoided among Medicare patients over the three years studied.
• Joint Commission stroke-certified hospitals were almost twice as likely to attain five-star status in stroke (30.1% of certified hospitals were five-star versus 15.7% of non-certified), and fewer of the stroke-certified hospitals fell into the one-star category (12.3% versus 19.6%).
• Joint Commission stroke-certified hospitals have an 8.06% lower risk-adjusted mortality rate compared to hospitals that were not stroke-certified.
BOTTOM LINE – Why go anywhere for any hospitalization or procedure other than to the best hospital? Check out your hospital before you need it, especially if you want to maximize your chance of going home.
Joel T Nowak MA, MSW
In a clinical trial conducted at Queen’s University, Canada, researchers, Robert Siemens, Jeremy Heaton, Michael Adams, Jun Kawakami and Charles Graham, have found that nitroglycerin, the widely used explosive which is also commonly used to treat angina, can treat prostate cancer. The researchers found that very low doses of nitroglycerin slow the growth or even stop the progression of prostate cancer without the severe side effects we experience from current treatments. Read More→
Cancer is genetics and genes do get messed up, that is what I have increasingly heard over the last four to five years. I am attending the upcoming AACR conference in Washington this April as a part of the Scientist-Survivor Program and our pre-assigned reading is all about genetics.
Increasingly, we are hearing about the possibility of genetic testing to determine which men with prostate cancer may benefit from aggressive therapy. There are a number of research pieces that support this concept. In particular, in some of the studies, the presence of 3 specific genetic abnormalities has been found to indicate a poor prognosis, while their absence confers a good prognosis. Read More→
Caring for Your Bones When You Have prostate Cancer
By · CommentsCancer Care in collaboration with Malecare (and other organizations) is offering a “Connect Workshop” on bone health for men with prostate caner. The workshop will include:
Overview of prostate cancer treatment
Managing bone health and bone metastases
Pain and side effect management
Clinical trials
Doctor-Patient Communication
Quality of life concerns
Questions and answers from the panel
The panel of experts will include:
Susan Slovin, MD. Ph.D., Associate attending physican at the Sidney Kimmel Center for the Treatment of Prostate & Urologic Cancers, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y. and Associate Professor of Medicine at Weil College of Cornell University
Michael J. Zelefsky, MD, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Chief of Brachytherapy Services, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y.
Wade Iwata, MSW, Men’s Cancer Project Coordinator, Cancercare
The on-line and and telephone conference will be on Thursday, March 25, 2010 from 1:30 to 2:30 PM Easter Time. To register for the conference contact Carolyn Messner, DSW, MSW, Director of Education and Training at CancerCare, 275 Seventh Avenue, New York, 10001 or you can registaer on-line at www.cancercare.org/connect .
For additional information contact CancerCare at 1-800-813-4673 or send an email to: connect@cancercare.org
Joel T Nowak, MA, MSW
I have written extensively about the well known fact that androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) is associated with a significant increase of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and cardiovascular mortality. In other words, ADT increases the chance that you will die from a heart issue because of the effect of the therapy!
There have been many recent articles and studies that have look at the effect ADT has on metabolic “happenings” in your body, all of which have been shown to be associated with an increase of cardiovascular risk. The result of this finding, increasingly internists, endocrinologists, and cardiologists are being consulted regarding the evaluation and management of men on ADT. On the flip side there still remains many physicians who are
not aware of the possible effects of ADT on cardiovascular risk factors or the issues regarding ADT and cardiovascular disease. Read More→
