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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Women Surviving Cardiovascular Disease Treatment in
Hospitals at Higher Rates
40% lower mortality in the best compared to
poorest performing hospitals
June 26, 2006 - American hospitals improved women's
survival rates for treatment of heart disease and stroke by an average
of 9.54 percent from 2002 through 2004, according to the third annual
HealthGrades Women's Health Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals study, released
today.
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But in-hospital mortality from cardiac disease and
stroke – two major subsets of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause
of death among U.S. women – varied widely from hospital to hospital, the
study found. Best-performing hospitals had, on average, a 40 percent
lower mortality rate than those hospitals designated as Poor performers.
Compared against Average hospitals, Best performers had, on average, a
23 percent lower mortality rate.
The greatest gap among hospitals occurred in
coronary bypass surgery, where there was a relative difference of almost
50 percent in risk-adjusted morality associated with the Best-performing
hospitals, as compared to Poor-performing hospitals.
The three-year study of more than 2.1 million
hospitalizations at more than 2,100 hospitals analyzed the following six
procedures and diagnoses for each hospital's female patients:
● Coronary bypass surgery
● Valve replacement surgery
● Percutaneous coronary interventions
● Acute myocardial infarction
● Heart failure
● Stroke
"In this year's study we were pleased to see such
dramatic improvement in the treatment of cardiovascular disease in
women, who have historically been under-diagnosed and under-treated,"
said the study's author, Samantha Collier, MD, HealthGrades' vice
president of medical affairs. "But women need to know that the gap in
quality between the Best and Poorest-performing hospitals is real and
has not closed in the three years we have been conducting this study."
The study also found that:
● While overall women's cardiac and stroke
risk-adjusted inhospital mortality rates improved by an average of 9.54
percent from 2002 to 2004, the greatest improvement was seen in the
specific treatment of heart failure, which improved an average of 15.34
percent.
● If all hospitals performed at the level of the Best-performing
hospitals in the study, 30,548 additional women may have survived their
hospitalization for heart disease and stroke.
Hospitals in the Best-performing and
Poor-performing categories had risk-adjusted mortality rates that were
lower or higher than average to a statistically significant degree.
The star ratings for women's health and maternity
care at each of the 2,100 hospitals were updated today on HealthGrades'
Web site. Ratings are available for hospitals in the 17 states that
collect and release patient-outcome data. Those states include: Arizona,
California, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New
Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia,
Washington and Wisconsin.
The study, including the full methodology, can also
be found on
http://www.healthgrades.com.
About HealthGrades
HealthGrades is the leading health care ratings company, providing
quality ratings and profiles of hospitals, nursing homes and physicians
to consumers, corporations, health plans and hospitals. HealthGrades'
independent ratings and complete suite of health-management tools are
relied upon by three million consumers each month as well as more than
125 of the nation's largest employers and health plans and more than 250
hospitals. More information on the company can be found at
www.healthgrades.com.
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