Study Finds A 52 Percent Lower Chance Of Dying At Top-Rated Hospitals
ByWant 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
