Hospital deaths from heart failure slashed in half

Hospital deaths from health failure were cut in half between 2000 and 2007, from 55 deaths to 28 deaths per 1,000 admissions, according to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality statistics released yesterday. In particular, heart failure deaths of hospitalized patients age 85 and over saw the biggest drop, from 87 to 48 deaths per 1,000 admissions. The death rate for heart failure patients ages 45 to 64 fell from 28 to 15 deaths and from 19 to 12 deaths for those ages 18 to 44. As hospitals look at quality metrics such as mortality rates to evaluate performance, the strategies behind these statistics could help other institutions see reduced heart failure deaths.