New quality data released Aug. 5 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows only small changes in national 30-day mortality and readmission rates in the hospital over the last few years.
There is good news to report on national 30-day mortality rates for myocardial infarction. Those rates dropped 0.3% from 16.2% in the reporting period from 2006 through 2009, down to 15.9% from 2007 through 2010. During the same time periods, national mortality rates increased slightly for heart failure and pneumonia. The 30-day mortality rate for heart failure rose from 11.2% to 11.3%. In pneumonia, the 30-day mortality rate rose from 11.6% to 11.9%.
In readmissions, the new reporting data show that national 30-day readmission rates were slightly higher for pneumonia and heart failure and slightly lower for myocardial infarction. For example, readmission rates from myocardial infarction dropped from 19.9% (2006-2009) to 19.8% (2007-2010). The national inpatient readmission rates for heart failure increased from 24.5% (2006-2009) to 24.8% (2007-2010). Similarly, pneumonia readmission rates increased from 18.2% (2006-2009) to 18.4% (2007-2010).
These risk-adjusted national mortality and readmission rates are part of a set of new data that the CMS is adding to the government’s Hospital Compare database. The rates include 3 full years of claims data from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2010.
"Our goal with hospital compare is to provide insights about the results that hospitals are achieving and to encourage efforts for hospitals to improve," Dr. Donald Berwick, administrator of the CMS said during a press conference on Aug. 5.
CMS officials also launched a new tool that can be used by physicians and their patients to gain quality information about a range of medical facilities and physicians. The "Quality Care Finder" is a single government website, which allows one-stop shopping for a number of quality sites including Hospital Compare, Nursing Home Compare, Home Health Compare, and Physician Compare, among others. The tools are still in place, but now consumers have the option of viewing them as a collection, according to the CMS.