New study examined if the magazine's 50 top-ranked hospitals for cardiovascular care performed better than 3,500 non-ranked hospitals on death rates and hospital readmissions for three cardiovascular conditions, as well as patient satisfaction.
Whether hospital rankings by U.S. News & World Report magazine reflect quality of care has been debated. This study examined if the magazine's 50 top-ranked hospitals for cardiovascular care performed better than 3,500 non-ranked hospitals on death rates and hospital readmissions for three cardiovascular conditions, as well as patient satisfaction.
Researchers report top-ranked hospitals did have lower 30-day mortality rates for heart attack, heart failure and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and higher patient satisfaction ratings compared with non-ranked hospitals.
The discrepancy between readmissions and other measures raises concern that readmissions may not be an adequate metric of hospital care quality. A limitation of the study was that the rankings only include data from Medicare patients.
‘30-day readmission rates were either similar (for heart attack and CABG) or higher (for heart failure) at the top-ranked hospitals compared with non-ranked hospitals. ’
Source: Eurekalert
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