State Releases Data for Heart Bypass Surgery Death Rates

State Releases Data for Heart Bypass Surgery Death Rates

National Institutes of Health

The heart muscle is supplied blood through the coronary arteries.
The left coronary artery supplies blood to the left ventricle.
The right coronary artery supplies blood to the right ventricle.

Today the state released its annual data on death rates in California hospitals for coronary artery bypass graft surgeries, a common procedure used to treat heart disease.

The data is interesting because it's one of the first and few surgical death rates that hospitals are required to report so it gives consumers some insight into where they are more or less likely to die if they have to undergo the procedure. The results are based on surgeries performed in 2007.

The report for the first time also includes hospital ratings based on their risk-adjusted post operative stroke rates for the years 2006-2007. It singles out Alta Bates Summit Medical Center's Oakland campus for better than average performance on this measure.

Public outcome reporting by hospitals seems to have an impact. Since the state Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development started releasing the data in 2003, death rates for coronary bypass surgery have dropped 19 percent.

Heart bypass surgery is one of the top 10 surgeries in California in terms of cost, and preliminary 2008 data shows patients have a chance of dying of about 2.2 percent.

While no hospital performed better than the state average on the surgical mortality rates, four hospitals performed worse: Enloe Medical Center in Chico; Los Angeles County Harbor - UCLA Medical Center; St. Joseph's Medical Center in Stockton and Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys. To check out the full report, go here.

Posted By: Victoria Colliver (Email) October 19 2010 at 11:18 AM

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