National patterns of risk-standardized mortality and readmission after hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia: Update on publicly reported outcomes measures based on the 2013 release

BACKGROUND: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publicly reports risk-standardizedmortality rates (RSMRs) within 30-days of admission and, in 2013, risk-standardized unplannedreadmission rates (RSRRs) within 30-days of discharge for patients hospitalized with acutemyocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and pneumonia. Current publicly reported data do not focus on variation in national results or annual changes. OBJECTIVE: Describe U.S. hospital performance on AMI, HF, and pneumonia mortality and updated readmission measures to provide perspective on national performance variation. DESIGN: To identify recent changes and variation in national hospital-level mortality andreadmission for AMI, HF, and pneumonia, we performed cross-sectional panel analyses of nationalhospital performance on publicly reported measures. PARTICIPANTS: Fee-for-service Medicare and Veterans Health Administration beneficiaries, 65 years or older, hospitalized with principal discharge diagnoses of AMI, HF, or pneumonia between July 2009 and June 2012. RSMRs/RSRRs were calculated using hierarchical logistic models risk-adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, and patients\u27 clustering among hospitals. RESULTS: Median (range) RSMRs for AMI, HF, and pneumonia were 15.1% (9.4-21.0%), 11.3% (6.4-17.9%), and 11.4% (6.5-24.5%), respectively. Median (range) RSRRs for AMI, HF, andpneumonia were 18.2% (14.4-24.3%), 22.9% (17.1-30.7%), and 17.5% (13.6-24.0%), respectively. Median RSMRs declined for AMI (15.5% in 2009-2010, 15.4% in 2010-2011, 14.7% in 2011-2012) and remained similar for HF (11.5% in 2009-2010, 11.9% in 2010-2011, 11.7% in 2011-2012) andpneumonia (11.8% in 2009-2010, 11.9% in 2010-2011, 11.6% in 2011-2012). Median hospital-level RSRRs declined: AMI (18.5% in 2009-2010, 18.5% in 2010-2011, 17.7% in 2011-2012), HF (23.3% in 2009-2010, 23.1% in 2010-2011, 22.5% in 2011-2012), and pneumonia (17.7% in 2009-2010, 17.6% in 2010-2011, 17.3% in 2011-2012). CONCLUSIONS: We report the first national unplanned readmission results demonstrating declining rates for all three conditions between 2009-2012. Simultaneously, AMI mortality continued to decline, pneumonia mortality was stable, and HF mortality experienced a small increase