PHC4 | Hospital Performance Report 2011

Hospital Performance Report 2011 - News Release

Contact: Joe Martin
717-232-6787 or

NEW PHC4 REPORT ON HOSPITAL PERFORMANCE SHOWS DECLINING MORTALITY RATE

Harrisburg, PA - December 18, 2012 - In-hospital mortality rates decreased significantly statewide between 2007 and 2011 for four of the 12 conditions included in the latest Hospital Performance Report, released today by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4). The sharpest decline was for Pneumonia-Aspiration, where the mortality rate dropped from 10.0% to 7.7%.

Colorectal Procedures (3.2% to 2.6%), Kidney and Urinary Tract Infections (1.0% to 0.6%), and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (1.0% to 0.8%) also showed significant declines in mortality rate between 2007 and 2011. No significant change occurred for the other eight conditions.

The findings are contained in the Hospital Performance Report for 2011, which resumed publication after a brief absence. PHC4 had released similar reports on hospital performance from the early 1990s until 2009. The council did not issue a 2010 report while it redesigned its risk-adjustment system, which takes into account the severity of patient illness when considering the effectiveness of individual hospitals’ treatment. The redesign was necessitated by the statute that reauthorized the agency in 2009.

“The Hospital Performance Report has been one of PHC4’s most popular publications, one that patients and professionals in health care related fields found extremely useful. We are pleased that we can once again provide this report to the people of Pennsylvania,” said Joe Martin, PHC4 executive director.

The report evaluates hospitals on 12 medical conditions and surgical procedures for which new risk-adjustment processes are complete. It contains hospital-specific information about volume of cases, mortality, readmissions, and charges for patients admitted to 157 hospitals in the state. PHC4 plans to expand the number of conditions and measures in future annual reports.

Readmission rates showed a statistically significant decrease statewide from 2007 to 2011 for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (from 23.5% to 22.1%) and Congestive Heart Failure (from 26.9% to 25.6%), but a significant increase for Chest Pain (from 10.9% to 12.9%). The other conditions and procedures showed no significant change.

Among the other findings:

For the 12 conditions reported, Chest Pain had the largest percentage decrease (-55%) in volume of patients admitted to hospitals in Pennsylvania. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease had the largest percentage increase (+22%) in admissions.
Medicare fee-for-service was the primary payer for 41.7% of the Pennsylvania admissions in 2010 (the most recent year available) for the 12 conditions and procedures in this report. Those payments totaled more than $755 million.
The condition with the highest average Medicare fee-for-service payment in 2010 was Colorectal Procedures, at $18,619 per hospitalization. The condition with the lowest average was Chest Pain, at $2,678.

The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council is an independent state agency charged with collecting, analyzing and reporting information that can be used to improve the quality and restrain the cost of health care in Pennsylvania. Copies of the Hospital Performance Report are free and available on the Council’s website at http://www.phc4.org.