Unadjusted inhospital mortality rates improved 13 percent across 18 diagnosis and procedures from 2008 to 2010, according to a recent HealthGrades report. HealthGrades examined 40 million hospital records from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to establish quality ratings for each hospital based on mortality rates and complications. The report notes that even with national improvements, each hospital varies in performance. For example, patients at the highest-rated hospitals have a more than 73 percent lower risk of dying versus the lowest-rated hospitals, or a 54 percent lower risk compared to the national average. "If all Medicare patients from 2008 through 2010 had been treated at 5-star hospitals, 240,040 lives could have potentially been saved," states the report. Report (.pdf)