Report shows suburban hospitals near national norms on mortality rates

For the first time, patients can compare death rates at hospitals nationwide for some of the most life-threatening medical conditions.

Suburban Chicago hospitals generally scored comparable to the national average for the three conditions released: heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia, according to figures released Wednesday by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Edward Hospital in Naperville had among the best scores in the Chicago area in all three categories.

In the past, some hospitals have objected to the release of such data, arguing it was unfair because the best hospitals get the toughest cases.

To answer that objection, the numbers released Tuesday, based on Medicare patients, were adjusted to reflect the estimated risk of patients dying.

The statistics also include ratings of patient surveys, Medicare payments and how often hospitals follow recommended treatments.

These were the first mortality measures hospitals have agreed to share publicly, in part because the health issues are common, life-threatening conditions with a large base of comparison.

The report did not include mortality rates for other common medical conditions, such as stroke, though more statistics may be forthcoming in future years.

Explaining Edward's success, Ellen Stimac, director of performance improvement, said the hospital has worked hard to improve by standardizing procedures, speeding up response times and acting preventively.

As a result, the average time from when a heart attack victim arrives at Edward to the time he or she gets an angioplasty to clear blood flow to the heart is 80 minutes, faster than the national goal of 90 minutes.

The hospital also gives pneumonia patients an antibiotic within two-and-a-half hours of arrival, also better than the four-hour goal and the national average.

Highly rated teaching hospitals in downtown Chicago, such as Northwestern Memorial and University of Chicago Hospitals, scored in the middle of the pack.

Dr. Vincent Bufalino, cardiologist and president of Midwest Heart Specialists, said consumers should be cautious when comparing small differences in results, because a lot of factors can skew them.

For instance, hospitals with more elderly or cancer patients may have more deaths from heart attacks, despite fine medical care. And, smaller hospitals may have their numbers skewed by a few cases.

Overall, he noted, medical care and heart care in particular have gotten much better over the past 25 years, and most hospitals fall within the average range.

"It tells us most everybody's doing a solid job," he said.

Some hospitals have gone a step farther to publish statistics on their own Web sites. Northwest Community Hospital was the first in the area to do so last year, featuring numbers both above and below the national average.

"We believe more information can only help consumers make informed decisions and help us to make changes," spokesman Blaine Krage said.

The full federal report is available online at www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/Hospital/Search/Welcome.asp?version=default&browser=Firefox%7C2%7CMacOSX&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home">Find and compare local hospitals</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/hospital/mortalitytool/index.asp">More user friendly search</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>