Bradford Regional Medical Center’s mortality rates were
relatively normal during fiscal year 2006, according to a report
issued by the state.
The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council released
its Hospital Performance Report for fiscal year 2006, which
includes data from hospitals covering 27 counties in western
Pennsylvania from Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30, 2006. The report
compares hospitals’ actual mortality, length of stay and
readmission rates and what is expected throughout the state.
To determine the mortality rating, the report compares the
number of patients one could reasonably expect to die in a given
hospital in a given condition with the actual number of deaths. It
also explains the length of stay ratings are “hospitalizations”
where the difference between the actual and expected length of stay
was above or below the normal range statewide.
In the report, BRMC’s statistics reported either findings that
were significantly lower than expected or not significantly
different than expected, except in one category.
The hospital was found during the time period reported to be
significantly higher than expected in the mortality rating and
short length of stay rating for “Pneumonia – Infectious,” which is
described in the report as “simple pneumonia (inflammation of the
lung) includes viral and bacterial pneumonia, as well as pleurisy,
an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the lungs.”
Hospital officials report that 12 among the 138 cases admitted
for infectious pneumonia in the reporting period received the
“significantly higher than expected” rating. While reviewing those
findings, however, BRMC officials found that the average age of
those patients was 77, many of whom were admitted with multiple
health issues.
“These factors could contribute to their length of stay,” said
Deborah Price, BRMC’s senior vice president of Patient Care
Services.
In addition, among the 12 patients who died, half were admitted
with “Do Not Resuscitate” orders and half had been admitted with
requests for comfort measures only, typically ordered for terminal
patients.
“We feel confident that we are following the patient and/or
family wishes in these cases and treated our patients to provide
the best comfort measures possible at the time,” Price said.
The report also found BRMC significantly lower than expected in
a readmission rating for any reason during the time period for
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The category is explained as “chronic lung disease where
breathing is difficult due to airway narrowing, excess mucus
production or inflammation. It is caused most frequently by
bronchitis, asthma or emphysema.”
Other local hospitals had a few areas in the report where they
were also found significantly higher than expected in the
ratings.
Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport was found
significantly higher than expected in a readmission rating for
abnormal heartbeat and short length of stay rating for
non-hemorrhagic stroke.
Elk Regional Health Center in St. Marys was found significantly
higher than expected in the short length of stay rating for
abnormal heartbeat and the mortality rating for congestive heart
failure. The hospital was also found significantly lower than
expected for long length of stay for chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, congestive heart failure and infectious pneumonia.
Kane Community Hospital in Kane was found significantly higher
than expected in mortality rating for blood clot in extremities,
readmission rating for any reason for congestive heart failure and
readmission rating for any reason for respiratory failure without
mechanical ventilation.
Officials said at BRMC, as with many health care organizations
across the state, these reports are an important tool used in
ongoing quality assessment measures that support best practices and
ultimately enhance patient care.
“We use the PHC4 Reports as a benchmark of quality,” Price said.
“As a leading health care institution in the region, we feel it’s
important to work with our state organization on these quality
initiatives to drive best practices and sustain the levels of
quality that we expect to achieve for our community.”
Price said she will be among a team from BRMC traveling in
mid-October to a conference sponsored by The Hospital &
Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) focusing on
infection control initiatives.
Overall, the report’s findings for all Pennsylvania hospitals
showed an ongoing decline in mortality rates in the state, while a
slight increase in readmission rates was reported. The entire
report can be found at the Web site www.phc4.org.
