The occurrence of adverse events for Medicare beneficiaries admitted for heart attack or congestive heart failure decreased between 2005 to 2011, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers analyzed data from the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System on adverse events in more than 61,000 patients admitted to a hospital for a heart attack, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, or conditions requiring surgery.
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Their analysis showed the adverse event rate for heart attack and congestive heart failure patients noticeably decreased in the six year study period, but it stayed the same for patients hospitalized with pneumonia or for conditions requiring surgery.
Of the 61,523 patients whose data was analyzed, 19 percent were admitted for a heart attack, 25 percent had congestive heart failure, 30 percent were hospitalized for pneumonia and 27 percent had a condition requiring surgery.
Here are six more statistics on the decline of adverse events associated with heart attack and congestive heart failure from 2005 to 2011.
1. The rate of adverse events for heart attack patients fell from 5 percent to 3.7 percent over the study period.
2. The proportion of heart attack patients with one or more adverse events declined from 26 percent to 19.4 percent.
3. The number of adverse events per 1,000 hospitalizations of heart attack patients fell by 34.7 percent, from 401.9 to 262.2.
4. The occurrence of adverse events for patients with congestive heart failure fell from 3.7 percent to 2.7 percent.
5. The number of patients with congestive heart failure who experienced one or more adverse events fell from 17.5 percent to 14.2 percent.
6. The number of adverse events per 1,000 hospitalizations of patients with congestive heart failure fell by 29 percent, from 235.2 to 166.9.
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