Independent healthcare ratings company Healthgrades has released American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2014: Report to the Nation. According to the report, if all hospitals performed like five-star hospitals as a group, nearly 235,000 deaths and 158,000 complications could have been potentially prevented between 2010 and 2012.
The report analyzed nearly 40 million patient records gathered between 2010 and 2012 from 4,500 U.S. hospitals for differences among hospitals in complications and in-hospital mortality across a range of procedures.
Conditions with key mortality risks when being treated at a one-star rated hospital (lowest) rather than a five-star rated hospital (highest) included:
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease — 5.3 times more likely to die
• Colorectal Surgeries — 3.4 times more likely to die
• Pneumonia — 2.9 times more likely to die
• Stroke — 2.2 times more likely to die
• Heart Attack — 1.9 times more likely to die
• Sepsis — 1.7 times more likely to die
Conditions with key complication risks when being treated at a one-star rated hospital rather than a five-star rated hospital included:
• Hip Replacement — 3.2 times more likely to experience complications
• Carotid Surgery — 3.0 times more likely to experience complications
• Total Knee Replacement — 2.7 times more likely to experience complications
• Gallballder Removal Surgery — 2.1 times more likely to experience complications
In addition, the Healthgrades report found on average that complications nearly doubled risk-adjusted costs of care.
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