Administrative Memos

200201

FROM: Theodore O. Will, Chief Executive Officer
DATE: Mar 08, 2002
SUBJECT: New York State Post-AMI Mortality Rates, 1998 to 2000
IPRO CONTACTS:

Anthony Shih, M.D., M.P.H., Clinical Coordinator, x429

Enclosed is a statewide report on "The Medicare National Acute Myocardial Infarction Project New York State Post-AMI Mortality Rates, 1998 to 2000." The objective of the Medicare National AMI project is to reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with AMI for Medicare beneficiaries.

Since 1994, IPRO has been educating hospitals and providers about evidence-based recommendations for AMI care and assisting them with implementing quality improvement interventions, as well as providing hospitals with data on hospital-specific performance. To date, the focus has been on CMS defined process-of-care quality indicators. This report is the first in a series to focus on New York State outcomes post-hospitalization for AMI, specifically 7-day, 30-day, and 1-year post-AMI mortality rates for patients discharged from New York State hospitals during the period 1998 to 2000.

Over 58,000 cases were analyzed for this study. The results indicate relatively stable statewide mortality rates from 1998 to 2000, but with significant variation among hospitals. Additional analyses revealed that when compared with performance on CMS quality indicators, in the aggregate, higher performance by hospitals on those quality indicators was associated with lower mortality rates. Over time, continued improvement in the CMS quality indicators can reduce the statewide mortality rates.

A hospital specific report for providers with an adequate number of AMI discharges will be distributed to those providers. Because the mortality rates are not risk-adjusted to capture the numerous variables that impact a hospital's mortality rates, they are confidential and not publicly reported. However, in the aggregate, the rates may nevertheless be useful in internal quality improvement efforts.

Should you have any questions regarding this memorandum, please feel free to contact any of the above IPRO contacts.