death rates
OR provides case study for consumer-driven care
In Oregon, consumers are getting just about as much data on healthcare providers as anyone in the country. Not only is the state reporting detailed hospital price comparisons, hospital-specific death... Read more...
Defibrillator use delays common, harmful
Too often, hospital patients with ventricular arrhythmias aren't treated with defibrillators soon enough, a problem that may have an impact on their survival, according to a new study published in... Read more...
Trend: States look for social roots of ethnic health disparities
Of late, states have begun to take a new approach to looking at health status differences between whites and minorities, concerned by data suggesting that minorities face dramatically higher rates... Read more...
MA officials question high hospital death rates
Despite the state's overall reputation for excellent care--and the presence of high-profile institutions like Beth Israel Deaconess and Massachusetts General--at least one study suggests that... Read more...
Heart surgery drug pulled from market
Bayer AG has agreed to an FDA request to withdraw its heart surgery drug Trasylol from the market, after the drug came under fire in the wake of a Canadian study suggesting that it increased death... Read more...
SPOTLIGHT: Big death gap between high, low-ranked hospitals
Everyone knows that there's a big gap between the best- and worst-performing organizations in any industry, but this is a striking one. In this case, a new study has found a whopping gap in Medicare... Read more...
Schwarzenegger kills hospital performance disclosure bill
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has vetoed a bill which would have disclosed hospital infection and death rates to the public. While Schwarzenegger's own healthcare bill contains some... Read more...
Report: Inpatient death rates falling
It looks like hospitals have made some real progress in treating common potentially fatal conditions over the past 10 years. According to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and... Read more...
NYC public hospitals disclose infection, mortality rates
New York City's 11 public hospitals will soon begin publicizing infection and death rates, spurred partly by the growing national concern about hospital-acquired conditions. In so doing, they're... Read more...
Studies: Resident shift limits don't lower mortality
Over the past several months, I've reported on a few studies which suggest that long shifts for physician-trainees breed medical errors. Now, some new studies have come to fruition which argue... Read more...
