Study: Hospital report cards less valuable for neurology

When it comes to neurology and neurosurgery, the report cards that have become a standard in the hospital industry may not be as useful as in other areas, according to a study scheduled to appear in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

Researchers suggest that mortality rates reported for these specialties may be excessively high at hospitals that treat severe trauma, have particularly busy emergency departments or see high numbers of Medicaid patients.

The authors, who reviewed neurological deaths at 103 academic medical centers, also found that mortality indexes were biased against facilities that take on complex cases transferred from other hospitals or perform non-elective surgeries for urgent neurological conditions.

To learn more about the study:
- read this HealthDay News piece