Weak associations between hospital mortality rates for individual diagnoses

Implications for profiling hospital quality

Bibliographic Data

ID11027653
AuthorsGary E Rosenthal (0000-0003-3449-5200, Veterans Health Administration, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume87
Issue3
Pages429-433
Publication date1997-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.87.3.429
PMID9096547
OpenAlexW2120264179
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited23

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the consistency of hospital mortality rates across different diagnoses. METHODS: Standardized mortality ratios for patients discharged in 1991 from US hospitals were determined via the Medicare Hospital Information Report. RESULTS: Correlations between standardized mortality ratios for different diagnoses were relatively weak, ranging from .03 to .34. Agreement between hospital rankings (based on standardized mortality ratios), as measured by the weighted kappa statistic, was also weak. CONCLUSIONS: The present results indicate that hospital mortality rates for individual diagnoses are weakly associated. Thus, it may not be valid to generalize conclusions about hospital performance from a single diagnosis

Cohen's kappa · Kappa · Medical diagnosis · Mortality rate · Pathology · Standardized mortality ratio · Statistic · Statistics · Demography · Emergency Medicine · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Sepsis Diagnosis and Treatment