This information is for reference purposes only. It was current when produced and may now be outdated. Archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. Persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at: https://info.ahrq.gov. Let us know the nature of the problem, the Web address of what you want, and your contact information.
Please go to www.ahrq.gov for current information.
New AHCPR-Supported Study Reported in JAMA
Press Release Date: July 25, 1995
A study is being published in the July 26 issue of
the Journal of the American
Medical
Association (JAMA), entitled "Evaluation of the Complication
Rate as a Measure of Quality
of
Care in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery." It finds that
hospital rankings based on
complication rates for patients who undergo coronary artery
bypass graft (CABG) surgery are not
a reliable indicator of the quality-of-care that hospitals
provide. The study, which was supported
by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), found
that many hospital
characteristics that are generally associated with higher
quality-of-care were associated with
higher complication rates, but with expected or
lower-than-expected mortality rates.
Authors of the study speculated on the reasons for this seeming
paradox—including the
possibility that while hospital deaths are reported consistently,
different criteria may be applied for
reporting in-hospital complications. They concluded that
hospital rankings based on complication
rates provide different information than those based on mortality
rates. Until more is known
about these differences, complication rates should not be used to
judge hospital quality of care in
CABG surgery.
The study was based on records abstracts for 16,673 patients who
underwent CABG procedures
at 57 hospitals across the nation and data from the 1991 American
Hospital Association Annual
Survey. It provides significant new information for health care
managers, especially those with
managed care systems that provide an increasing portion of
medical care in the United States.
For additional information, contact AHCPR Public Affairs: Karen Migdail,
(301) 427-1855.