Tracking care at local hospitals

Web site shows care in line with national averages

By NATALIE HOFFMAN
Register Staff Writer

Are area hospitals up to par when it comes to treating serious health conditions?

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently measured hospitals across the country, including those in Napa County, on how often people pass away, and from what, at medical centers.

It’s the first time prospective patients can access estimated mortality rates for key health conditions at American hospitals.

Napa County area hospitals’ mortality rates for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia fall within national averages. The CMMS’ Hospital Compare Web site rates what happens to patients within 30 days of treatment at the hospital.

Heart attack mortality rates are 16.6 percent at Kaiser’s Vallejo Medical Center, 15.1 percent at Queen of the Valley Medical Center and 15.9 percent at St. Helena Hospital, according to the Web site. The national rate is 16.1 percent.

Compared to the 11.1 percent national mortality rate for heart failure, Napa County hospitals fared similarly, with Kaiser at 11.2 percent, the Queen at 13.4 percent and St. Helena Hospital at 11.8 percent.

Area hospitals also came close to the national mortality rate for pneumonia — 11.4 percent. Kaiser’s mortality rate of 12.2 percent is not statistically different from the Queen’s — 10.4 percent — or St. Helena Hospital’s — 12.1 percent.

The data is from Medicare patients discharged between July 2006 and June 2007, according to the Hospital Compare site. The site also contains patient ratings of hospital services, pediatric care and other data.

Hospital Compare cites adapted statistics that “take into account how sick patients were before they were admitted to the hospital,” the Web site states.

Hospital Compare’s updates are good news not just for prospective patients, but also for hospitals, said Jaime Penaherrera, spokesman for the Queen.

“Here at Queen, we believe that transparency of outcomes is needed to improve the quality of health care. ... It’s something that we embrace and support,” he said.

Kaiser spokesman Jim Caroompas had a similar take on the public’s newfound access to the data.

“Kaiser Permanente was within the national norm on all measurements where there was sufficient data to make a measurement. (We are) supportive of public reporting,” Caroompas wrote in an e-mail. “We want to encourage consumers to look at many aspects of care, not single measures, to get a good picture of quality.”

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