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CT hospitals mostly ‘average’ on patient safety

03/15/11

Hospitals in the Hartford/New Haven region ranked 38^th out of 68 metropolitan areas for the prevalence of medical errors and preventable deaths and complications in their facilities.

The middle of the pack ranking by HealthGrades, a Colorado-based consumer advocacy group, was based on 13 patient safety indicators including the prevalence of post-operative issues like sepsis or hematomas or a foreign object left in a patient during surgery.

The average hospitals in Hartford/New Haven scored above the national average in two patient safety categories; at the national average in another nine categories; and below the national average in two categories.

The prevalence of pressure ulcers and foreign objects left in a patient during surgery are two areas where Connecticut hospitals are ranked below the national average, the report said.

Among areas where Connecticut hospitals received above average marks is preventing death among surgical in patients with serious treatable complications.

The 10 U.S. cities with the lowest incidence of patient safety incidents are Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Wichita, Kan.; Cleveland, OH; Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Toledo, OH; Boston, Mass.; Greenville, S.C.; Honolulu, HI; Charlotte, N.C.; and Oklahoma City, Okla.

In its analysis, HealthGrades analyzed approximately 40 million Medicare patient records from fiscal years 2007 through 2009.

Among other key findings in the study:

• Patients treated at top-ranking hospitals for patient safety had a 30 percent lower risk of experiencing a central-line bloodstream infection and a nearly 39 percent  lower risk of post-surgical sepsis, another type of hospital-acquired bloodstream infection.

• Four patient safety indicators (death among surgical inpatients with serious treatable complications, pressure ulcer, post-operative respiratory failure, and post-operative sepsis) accounted for 68.51 percent of all patient safety events during the three years analyzed.

• The 13 patient safety events studied were associated with $7.3 billion of excess cost, which equates to an additional $181.17 per Medicare patient hospitalization.

• Preventable medical errors are so pervasive and costly that the federal government has proposed linking incentive-based hospital compensation to four of the AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators, starting in 2014. In addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are currently developing a 10-year, $70 billion plan aimed at reducing hospital-acquired infections.