Study: PA hospital death rates for heart-bypass surgery hit new low

New research from a state group has concluded that the in-hospital death rate for heart-bypass surgery patients in Pennsylvania hit its lowest level in more than a decade during 2006. Bypass patient readmission rates also fell between 2005 and 2006, according to the report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), which focused on coronary bypass and heart-valve procedures.

According to the PHC4, the 2006 bypass mortality rate was 1.8 percent, or about half the 1990 rate. Of the 16,663 patients who had coronary bypass and/or heart-valve procedures, 1,048, or more than 6 percent, got infections during their hospital stays.

In 2006, 5.4 percent of bypass patients were readmitted to a hospital within a week of their discharge, down from 5.5 percent in 2005. Thirteen percent of those patients were readmitted within 30 days in 2006, compared with 13.6 percent in 2005.

Meanwhile, Medicare reimbursement to hospitals for such patients was $30,423 for bypass patients, $42,128 for patients who had heart-valve surgery and $45,620 for patients who had both procedures, according to the PHC4's data. (Comparable private health insurer data wasn't available, the PHC4 said.)

To learn more about this study:
- read this piece from The Associated Press
- read the PHC4 report

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