Complications and Deaths: Is Your Hospital Safe?

The Ultimate Measure of Quality

While having a clean room and polite nurses is important, the ultimate measure of a hospital's quality is whether patients survive their illnesses and surgeries without suffering severe, preventable complications. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rigorously tracks Complications and Deaths (Mortality) to identify which hospitals consistently save lives and which ones put patients at risk.

The 30-Day Mortality Rate

When calculating death rates, CMS uses a 30-day window. This means they track whether a patient dies within 30 days of their initial admission to the hospital, even if the patient was already discharged and died at home or in another facility.

This 30-day metric is crucial because if a hospital discharges a patient prematurely or fails to treat the underlying issue correctly, the resulting death is still attributed to the quality of care provided during that initial stay. CMS primarily tracks 30-day mortality for high-risk conditions such as Heart Attacks (AMI), Heart Failure, Pneumonia, COPD, and Stroke.

Tracking Preventable Complications

Beyond mortality, CMS also tracks severe surgical complications that should not occur in a highly reliable health system. These are known as Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) and include:

• Serious Blood Clots: Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) or Pulmonary Embolism (PE) following a surgery.
• Collapsed Lungs: Often caused by medical errors during the insertion of central lines or pacemakers.
• Accidental Cuts and Tears: Lacerations to internal organs during surgery.
• Severe Sepsis post-surgery: Systemic infections that develop after a procedure.