iHealthBeat reports Oregon’s hospital quality reporting Web site (Oregon Hospital Quality Indicators) incorrectly listed three hospitals as having higher-than-average death rates among patients undergoing bilateral heart catheterization. The error was corrected on Thursday.
A state official said the survival rates at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital, Willamette Valley Medical Center and Merle West Medical Center were not different, but rather the procedure was performed more often than average.
The Web site for the past three years has reported hospital quality measures, including death rates for some procedures. The report, which is a joint effort of the Office for Health Policy and Research and the Oregon Health Policy Commission, compares data gathered on 14 procedures and conditions, including stroke, hip fracture, pneumonia and heart bypass surgery. The comparisons focus on in-hospital volumes and death rates for certain conditions and inpatient procedures.
Most hospitals in the state performed similarly in the ratings, the Oregonian reports. According to the corrected data, mortality rates were higher than expected at nine hospitals among patients treated for congestive heart failure, hip fracture, pneumonia or stroke.