Two new studies which appear today in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest modest success in the national effort to improve outcomes by setting benchmarks for the treatment of pneumonia, heart attacks and congestive heart failure. One study from JCAHO looked at three measures and found modest to significant improvement over a two-year period. The other study from Harvard School of Public Health compared teaching and non-teaching hospitals, and non-profit and for-profit on 10 measures for their Medicare patients. Those with more patients outscored those with fewer across the board.
- see this story from the AP