How Good is Pressure Ulcer Data?

Hospital performance scores for pressure ulcer rates vary significantly, depending on whether administrative or surveillance data was used in public reporting of the measure, according to an article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Value-based purchasing programs currently rely on administrative data to compare hospitals for public reporting and financial penalties associated with pressure ulcer rates.  

Researchers examined data from 196 acute-care California hospitals with at least six months of administrative and surveillance data for pressure ulcers in 2009.

When administrative data was used to calculate rates of pressure ulcers stage II or greater, the average hospital-specific pressure ulcer rate was 0.15 percent. Calculating the same measure with surveillance data yielded a 2 percent hospital-specific pressure ulcer rate.

Examining the poorest performing quintile calculated using administrative data with surveillance data yielded vastly different results, with two-thirds earning performance grades of "average," "above average" or "superior."

The study concluded administrative data may not be an appropriate method of comparing hospitals.

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