The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Ankylosing Spondylitis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Hospitals Have Lower Death Rates During Surprise Inspections

Hospitals Have Lower Death Rates During Surprise Inspections

March 21, 2017 • By Lisa Rapaport

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

(Reuters Health)—Patients may be less likely to die in U.S. hospitals during weeks when accreditation inspectors show up unannounced than during other times of the year, a recent U.S. study suggests.

You Might Also Like
  • U.S. Teaching Hospitals Are Expensive, But Have Lower Death Rates
  • Hospitals May Face Bigger Penalties for Readmissions Than Deaths
  • English Hospitals Divert Ambulances After Ransomware Cyber Attack

Researchers examined mortality data for 1,984 hospitals nationwide from 2008 to 2012. During surprise inspections, 7.03% of patients died within 30 days of being admitted to the hospital, the study found. At other times, the 30-day mortality rate was 7.21%.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The difference was more pronounced at major teaching hospitals, where mortality dropped to 5.93% during inspection weeks from 6.41% at other times.

“Our findings are surprising because they highlight how increased focus, attention, and cognitive bandwidth, all of which happen when people are being monitored, could lead to measurable improvements in patient outcomes,” says senior study author Dr. Anupam Jena, a health policy researcher at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The study focused on inspections by the Joint Commision, an independent nonprofit group that evaluates hospitals at least once every three years to see how well they follow patient safety guidelines designed to avoid preventable deaths, infections and errors like medication mistakes. Hospitals typically work hard during inspections to make sure they pass. Failures, which are rare, can result in a halt to payments from Medicare and Medicaid, which often make up at least half of hospitals’ revenue.

Jena and colleagues examined data on patients insured by Medicare, the U.S. health program for the elderly. The study included 244,787 patients hospitalized during inspection weeks and another 1,462,339 patients hospitalized during the three weeks before and after inspection periods.

Patients were typically about 73 years old and roughly 56% were female. Many of them had chronic health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, elevated cholesterol or diabetes.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The researchers didn’t find any meaningful differences in how long patients were hospitalized, how many people were admitted to the hospital, reasons for diagnosis, patient characteristics or procedures performed based on whether or not it was an inspection week.

Across all the hospitals, however, they calculated that there was a 1.5% decrease in mortality during inspection weeks. For major teaching hospitals, researchers found a 5.9 percent decrease in deaths during inspection periods.

Major teaching hospitals admitted an average of 900,000 Medicare patients a year during the study period, researchers note in JAMA Internal Medicine, online on March 20.1

The absolute reduction in 30-day mortality rates of 0.39% during inspection weeks at major teaching hospitals suggests there may be some room to improve quality throughout the year, Jena says.

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Filed Under: Facility, Practice Management Tagged With: hospital, hospitalized, Infection

You Might Also Like:
  • U.S. Teaching Hospitals Are Expensive, But Have Lower Death Rates
  • Hospitals May Face Bigger Penalties for Readmissions Than Deaths
  • English Hospitals Divert Ambulances After Ransomware Cyber Attack
  • U.S. Appeals Court: Hospitals Can Be ‘Urban’ & ‘Rural’ at Same Time

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2021 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
This site uses cookies: Find out more.