CardioExchange Archive

January 3rd, 2012

Measuring In-Hospital Mortality Favors Hospitals with Short Stays

Larry Husten, PHD

As a measure of performance and quality, in-hospital mortality systematically favors hospitals with shorter overall length of stay (LOS) times, according to a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. This finding may have important implications for quality improvement initiatives that use mortality as a performance measure. Elizabeth Drye and colleagues (including senior author Harlan Krumholz, editor-in-chief […]

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October 18th, 2011

Heart Failure Hospitalization Rate Drops 30% in 10 Years

Larry Husten, PHD

From 1998 through 2008, the rate of heart failure hospitalization in an elderly Medicare population declined by nearly 30%, according to a new study published in JAMA. Jersey Chen and colleagues  (including senior author Harlan Krumholz, editor-in-chief of CardioExchange) analyzed CMS data from 55 million fee-for-service Medicare patients hospitalized for heart failure between 1998 and 2008. After adjusting for […]

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June 2nd, 2011

CDC: Death Rates for Heart Disease and Cancer Converge

Larry Husten, PHD

Preliminary data released by the CDC shows that the age-adjusted death rates for heart disease and cancer are converging dramatically. From 1999 through 2009, the death rates for heart disease and cancer declined by 30.8% and 11.9%, respectively. In 1999, the risk for death from heart disease was 31.9% higher than from cancer. By 2009, […]

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April 13th, 2011

Increasing Disparity Found in Stroke Mortality in Europe and Central Asia

Larry Husten, PHD

The difference in stroke mortality among countries in Europe and Central Asia is large and, somewhat surprisingly, is growing larger, according to a new analysis of data from the World Health Organization. In a paper published online in the European Heart Journal, Josep Redon and colleagues examine recent 15-year trends from 39 countries. They report that, […]

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