Patient outcomes at each of the nation’s 5,000 non-federal hospitals indicate a wide gap in quality between the best hospitals and all others.
According to a study by HealthGrades, an independent healthcare ratings organization, patients at highly rated hospitals have a 52 percent better chance of surviving compared with the U.S. hospital average.
The study also found that hospitals certified as a Center of Excellence in Stroke Care by The Joint Commission had an 8 percent lower risk-adjusted mortality rate than non-certified hospitals.
“With Washington focused on rewarding high-quality hospitals and empowering patients to make more informed healthcare choices, this information comes at a turning point in the healthcare debate,” said Rick May, MD, an author of the HealthGrades study.
Sites like HealthGrades.com provide information needed to choose a high-quality hospital, said May, while HealthGrades’ hospital ratings provide benchmarking data that can help hospitals improve their clinical quality levels.
The study found the following:
- In-hospital, risk-adjusted mortality rates at the nation’s hospitals improved, on average, 10.99 percent from 2006 through 2008.
- Across all 17 procedures and diagnoses in which mortality was studied, there was an approximate 71.64 percent lower chance of dying in a 5-star-rated hospital compared to a 1-star-rated hospital.
- If all hospitals performed at the level of a 5-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 percent (127,488) of the potentially preventable deaths were associated with 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 percent for risk-adjusted mortality.
- Across all procedures in which complications were studied, there was a 79.69 percent lower chance of experiencing one or more in-hospital complications in a 5-star-rated hospital compared to a 1-star-rated hospital.
The 12th annual "HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study" examined nearly 40 million Medicare hospitalization records from 2006-08. The study looks at trends in mortality and complication rates and is designed to provide the foundation for quality ratings of procedures and diagnoses at each hospital.