Key Findings

How did Utah quality of care compare with the nation in 2005 through 2007?

For in-hospital adult deaths, Utah overall had a lower rate of heart failure deaths and heart bypass surgery deaths than expected compared to similar patients nationwide.  Utah overall had about the same rate of deaths as expected for balloon angioplasty, heart attacks and strokes compared to similar patients nationwide.   Utah overall means all Utah hospitals combined.  Rates and measures used are in parentheses  For more details, see the Technical Document.

In Utah hospitals that treated patients with this procedure or condition:

• 157 (3.3%) of 4,788 heart bypass surgery patients died (AHRQ IQI 12).
• 262 (1.7%) of 15,644 balloon angioplasty patients died (AHRQ IQI 30).
• 394 (5.9%) of  6,672  heart attack patients died (AHRQ IQI 32)
• 367 (3.7%) of 10,001 heart failure patients died (AHRQ IQI 16).
• 702 (10.5%) of  6,714  stroke patients died (AHRQ IQI 17)

When the patients at each Utah hospital are compared to similar patients nationwide (based on a statistical test, the Exact 95% Confidence Interval):

• Utah overall had a lower rate of in-hospital deaths among heart bypass surgery patients than expected.   Of the 11 hospitals that treated at least 30 heart bypass surgery patients, one hospital had a lower rate of deaths than expected and one hospital had a higher rate of deaths than expected.  The remaining nine hospitals had about the same rate of deaths as expected.
• Utah overall had about the same rate of in-hospital deaths for balloon angioplasty patients as expected.  Each of the 17 hospitals that treated at least 30 balloon angioplasty patients had about the same rate of deaths as expected.  
• Utah overall had about the same rate of in-hospital deaths for heart attack patients as expected.  Of the 17 hospitals that treated at least 30 heart attack patients, one had a lower rate of deaths than expected, whereas the remaining 16 hospitals had about the same rate of deaths as expected. 
• Utah overall had a lower rate of in-hospital deaths among heart failure patients than expected.  Of the 32 hospitals that treated at least 30 heart failure patients, seven hospitals had a lower rate of deaths than expected and one hospital had a higher rate of deaths than expected.  The remaining 24 hospitals had about the same rate of deaths as expected. 
• Utah overall had about the same rate of in-hospital deaths for stroke patients as expected.  Of the 26 hospitals that treated at least 30 stroke patients, two hospitals had a lower rate of deaths than expected and one hospital had a higher rate of deaths than expected.

Note that many factors can affect in-hospital deaths at a particular hospital.  Read more in “About the Data”.

How did hospital charges differ among Utah hospitals in 2007?

Average hospital charge among adult inpatients for the heart procedures and conditions in this report differed widely in 2007. For more details, see the Technical Document. For patients at the minor/moderate illness level, average hospital charge ranged from:

• $1,998 to $19,779 among 34 Utah hospitals that reported charges for heart attack patients (APR-DRG 190).
• $2,952 to $15,098 among 39 Utah hospitals that reported charges for heart failure patients (APR-DRG 194).   
• $10,027 to $20,505 among 17 Utah hospitals that reported charges for heart catheterization for ischemic disease (APR-DRG 192).
• $65,947 to $125,360 among 10 Utah hospitals that reported charges for heart valve procedures with heart catheterization (APR-DRG 162).
• $3,787 to $17,995 among 39 Utah hospitals that reported charges for stroke (APR-DRG 045, Cerebrovascular Accident and Precerebral Occlusion With Infarction, Age 18 Years and Over).

As expected, average hospital charge for patients treated at the major/extreme severity of illness level was higher than for minor/moderate severity of illness level.

Note: Many factors will affect hospital charges. Read more in About the Data.