Hospital survival rates of heart failure patients revealed
Hospital survival rates of heart failure patients revealed
By Judith Graham
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published June 22, 2007
The government pulled back the curtain today on one of the most closely guarded secrets in medicine: How many patients who seek hospital treatment end up dying instead of surviving.
Results are now available on the Internet for heart attacks and heart failure, two of the most common conditions that send people racing through traffic to the nearest emergency room.
The release is part of the government's ongoing push to put important information about the quality and cost of health care in the hands of consumers in an effort to invigorate competition in the medical marketplace.
"What we're seeing today is a glimpse of what's possible," said Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who promised that much more information about the outcomes of medical care will become publicly available in the next few years.
Nationally, mortality data for patients with heart attacks and heart failure at more than 4,440 hospitals, including 185 in Illinois, were posted today on Medicare's Hospital Compare web site ( www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov). The data are for Medicare patients treated in the year ending June 30, 2006.
In Illinois, Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood were among 38 U.S. hospitals with the best ranking for having low death rates among heart failure patients.
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge was listed with 17 hospitals as having much better-than-expected results for patients with heart attacks.
On the other end of the spectrum, Advocate Christ Hospital & Medical Center in Oak Lawn got low marks for death rates for heart failure patients, as did BroMenn Regional Medical Center in Normal.
Don Calcagno, director of Advocate Health Care's Center for Health Information Services, said the hospital system had asked Medicare officials for more information about how mortality rates were adjusted for the characteristics of patients, such as how severely ill they were upon seeking treatment.
Advocate also wants to know how the Medicare data take account of patients in hospice care, who are at the end of their lives and who typically have decided against measures to prolong their lives.
Heart failure is the fourth most common reason why patients are hospitalized in the U.S. Each year, 1.1 million people are admitted to medical facilities with the problem. Heart attacks are the 11th most common cause of hospitalization, sending 662,000 patients a year through emergency room doors.
By Judith Graham
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published June 22, 2007
The government pulled back the curtain today on one of the most closely guarded secrets in medicine: How many patients who seek hospital treatment end up dying instead of surviving.
Results are now available on the Internet for heart attacks and heart failure, two of the most common conditions that send people racing through traffic to the nearest emergency room.
The release is part of the government's ongoing push to put important information about the quality and cost of health care in the hands of consumers in an effort to invigorate competition in the medical marketplace.
"What we're seeing today is a glimpse of what's possible," said Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who promised that much more information about the outcomes of medical care will become publicly available in the next few years.
Nationally, mortality data for patients with heart attacks and heart failure at more than 4,440 hospitals, including 185 in Illinois, were posted today on Medicare's Hospital Compare web site ( www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov). The data are for Medicare patients treated in the year ending June 30, 2006.
In Illinois, Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood were among 38 U.S. hospitals with the best ranking for having low death rates among heart failure patients.
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge was listed with 17 hospitals as having much better-than-expected results for patients with heart attacks.
On the other end of the spectrum, Advocate Christ Hospital & Medical Center in Oak Lawn got low marks for death rates for heart failure patients, as did BroMenn Regional Medical Center in Normal.
Don Calcagno, director of Advocate Health Care's Center for Health Information Services, said the hospital system had asked Medicare officials for more information about how mortality rates were adjusted for the characteristics of patients, such as how severely ill they were upon seeking treatment.
Advocate also wants to know how the Medicare data take account of patients in hospice care, who are at the end of their lives and who typically have decided against measures to prolong their lives.
Heart failure is the fourth most common reason why patients are hospitalized in the U.S. Each year, 1.1 million people are admitted to medical facilities with the problem. Heart attacks are the 11th most common cause of hospitalization, sending 662,000 patients a year through emergency room doors.
posted by Carlos T Mock @ 7:30 PM
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