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Study: Preventable deaths linked to quality initiatives

Case Management Weekly, July 18, 2007

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Approximately 2,200 hospital deaths would be avoided each year if the lowest-performing hospitals in the U.S. could catch up with the top performers on specific quality measures, according to a study published in the July/August issue of Health Affairs.

The study, "The Inverse Relationship Between Mortality Rates and Performance in the Hospital Quality Alliance Measures," examined the relationship between hospital performance and mortality for Medicare enrollees admitted for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), congestive heart failure (CHF), and pneumonia.

For all three conditions, approximately 2,200 deaths would have been avoided if patients in the lowest-performing hospitals had the mortality rates of patients in the top-performing hospitals.

The study linked measures from the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA)--a public-private collaboration that collects data from hospitals nationwide--to outcomes such as mortality and was limited to patients age 65 and older.

The three conditions assessed in the HQA constitute more than 15% of Medicare hospital medical and surgical admissions, according to the study.

Source: Bureau of National Affairs

Other articles of interest:

 New Web site offers quality report cards

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