Top-Ranked Hospitals Cut Death Rate
Is there a benefit to being in a top-ranked or top-rated hospital? A recent study says yes. They get this idea due to the statistical fact that the top-rated hospitals in the United States have a 27% lower rate of death than other hospitals do. The study was released by HealthGrades, which is an independent health care ratings organization.
For the study, researchers looked at the records of roughly 41 million Medicare patients that were treated at the nearly 5,000 non-federal hospitals between 2005 and 2007. The study further narrowed the amount of data being analyzed by limiting their analysis to 26 common procedures and diagnoses. The list of procedures and diagnoses included:
- Heart attack
- Heart failure
- Pneumonia
- Stroke
- Angioplasty
- Gastrointestinal surgeries
- Sepsis
For Medicare patients who were diagnosed or treated at a hospital that is in the top 5% nationally, the risk of in-hospital death was 27% less than those treated at hospitals in the other 95% of the rankings. Between 2005 and 2007, the top-rated hospitals in the country cut their in-hospital, risk-adjusted death rates by an average of nearly 18%. It is not all doom and gloom for those treated at hospitals outside of the top 5%. Overall, hospitals in the other 95% cut their in-hospital, risk-adjusted death rate by nearly 13%.
In addition to their 27% lower chance of death among the 26 common procedures, the top-rated hospitals also had an 8% lower risk of complications from diagnoses and procedures including:
- Orthopedic and neurosurgery
- Vascular surgery
- Prostate surgery
- Gall bladder surgery
If the quality of care at all of the nearly 5,000 non-federal hospitals were on the same level as that of the top-rated hospitals, 152,666 lives could have been saved.
Contact a Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Lawyer
If you have been the recipient of a lower standard of care than required or a doctor’s errors, contact the Pennsylvania medical malpractice lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams at 610-667-7511.