The quality of emergency medical care at the nation’s hospitals varies widely – both individually and by state – according to a new study released today that, for the first time, examines mortality rates for patients entering hospitals through emergency departments.

The first annual HealthGrades Emergency Medicine in American Hospitals Study examined more than 5 million Medicare records of patients admitted through the emergency department of 4,907 hospitals from 2006 to 2008 and identified hospitals that performed in the top 5% in the nation in emergency medicine.

Comparing the group of hospitals in the top 5% with all others, the study found that the group had a 39% lower risk-adjusted mortality rate. These top-performing hospitals improved their outcomes over the years 2006 through 2008 at a faster rate than all other hospitals, 16% compared with 10%.

The first-annual analysis is based on risk-adjusted mortality outcomes for patients admitted through the emergency department for eleven of the most common life-threatening diagnoses in the Medicare population. If all hospitals performed at the level of the top 5 percent, 118,014 individuals could have potentially survived their emergency hospitalization.

The eleven conditions examined in the study are:
• Bowel obstruction
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Diabetic acidosis and coma
• Gastrointestinal bleed
• Heart attack
• Pancreatitis
• Pneumonia
• Pulmonary Embolism
• Respiratory Failure
• Sepsis
• Stroke

Hospitals in the top percent were identified at  http://www.healthgrades.com

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