Apples for Health- Top hospitals have much lower mortality

Top hospitals have much lower mortality

GOLDEN, Colo., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Medicare patients treated at top-rated U.S. hospitals are 27 percent less likely to die, on average, than those admitted to other hospitals, a report found.

A report released by HealthGrades also said that patients who undergo surgery at high-performing hospitals also have an average 8 percent lower risk of complications during their stay.

The HealthGrades Seventh Annual Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study identifies hospitals in the top 5 percent nationally in terms of mortality and complication rates across 26 procedures and diagnoses, from heart attacks to total knee replacement.

HealthGrades independently analyzed nearly 41 million patient records from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for fiscal years 2005, 2006 and 2007, for 26 medical procedures and diagnoses at every one of the nation's nearly 5,000 non-federal hospitals.

Many hospitals excel in a given service line, but what differentiates these top hospitals is their quality achievement across a broad range of procedures and treatments, officials with HealthGrades said.

The 2009 study of Medicare patients found that 152,666 lives might have been saved and 11,772 major complications avoided during the three years studied, had the quality of care at all hospitals matched the level of those in the top 5 percent.

The report is available at http://www.healthgrades.com.