Posted by Phillipa on January 21, 2014, at 21:44:45
Click on the website at very end for list of states and hospitals. Lengthy. Phillipa
Medscape Medical NewsTop Hospital Awards Pass Over 1 in 4 States
Robert Lowes
DisclosuresJanuary 21, 2014
Editors' Recommendations
Number of Joint Commission Top Hospitals Grows by 77%
Big Gaps Found in Hospital Mortality, Complication Rates
Top Hospitals for Outcomes Named by Healthgrades
Every year, an organization called Healthgrades issues a report designed to guide consumers to the best hospitals in terms of low mortality and complication rates for the most common procedures and conditions.
Consumers won't find such a hospital, however, in 13 states and Washington, DC, according to the latest list of award winners issued today by Healthgrades. This roll call of less-than-outstanding clinical outcomes has grown from 8 states and Washington, DC, in 2013.
The organization awarded its Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence to 260 institutions this year, down from 262 last year. Many of the states that lack a Healthgrades award winner this year, such as Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming, have relatively small populations and few hospitals eligible for top honors to begin with. However, states with middling populations, such as Alabama and Oklahoma, also came up empty in the Healthgrades hospital report.
Someone who flies from Birmingham, Alabama, to Oklahoma City would cross 2 other states Mississippi and Arkansas that lack an award-winning hospital. In contrast to this Healthgrades desert, the West Coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California are a lush zone of outstanding outcomes more than 3 in 10 hospitals in each state made the list. Six other states achieved this distinction.
Table 1. States With High Rates* of 2014 Clinical Excellence Hospitals
State Eligible Hospitals (n) Clinical Excellence Hospitals (n) Eligible Hospitals (%)
Arizona 32 10 31.3
California 135 50 37.0
Colorado 22 8 36.4
Delaware 3 1 33.3
Massachusetts 31 10 32.3
Michigan 46 18 39.1
Minnesota 19 7 36.8
Oregon 18 6 33.3
Washington 29 10 34.5*More than 30%.
Table 2. States With Low Rates* of 2014 Clinical Excellence Hospitals
State Eligible Hospitals (n) Clinical Excellence Hospitals (n) Eligible Hospitals (%)
Alabama 26 0 0.0
Alaska 2 0 0.0
Arkansas 18 0 0.0
Connecticut 19 1 5.3
District of Columbia 4 0 0.0
Kentucky 18 1 5.6
Louisiana 26 1 3.8
Maine 4 0 0.0
Mississippi 16 0 0.0
Nevada 12 0 0.0
New Mexico 7 0 0.0
North Dakota 6 0 0.0
Oklahoma 14 0 0.0
Rhode Island 5 0 0.0
South Dakota 4 0 0.0
Tennessee 31 1 3.2
Texas 100 9 9.0
Vermont 1 0 0.0
Wyoming 2 0 0.0*Less than 10%.
Following Their Example Could Save 50,000 Lives Per Year
The 260 hospitals spotlighted by Healthgrades for their clinical outcomes represent the top 5% of nearly 4500 hospitals that the group studied using Medicare data from 2010 through 2012.
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In looking at risk-adjusted inpatient and 30-day mortality rates, Healthgrades confined its analysis to 20 procedures and conditions that include colorectal surgery, coronary angioplasty and stenting, sepsis, diabetic emergencies, pneumonia, and neurosurgery. Inpatient complication rates were limited to 10 procedures ranging from total knee replacement to carotid surgery.To be eligible for a Clinical Excellence award, a hospital must have been evaluated for at least 21 of the 30 procedures and conditions. Healthgrades says that while some institutions may excel in a few procedures and conditions, its award winners are top performers across the board.
The 260 hospitals posted a collective inpatient mortality rate for 19 procedures and conditions that was 26.4% lower than that for all other hospitals. If the remaining 95% of the hospitals had scored just as well, some 156,000 lives might have been saved from 2010 through 2012, or 50,000 lives per year, according to Healthgrades.
The list of the Clinical Excellence hospitals is available on the Healthgrades Web site.
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