Public Reporting of Mortality Rates for Hospitalized Medicare Patients
Authors: Karen E. Joynt, E. John Orav, Jie Zheng, Ashish K. Jha
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2017)

Letters3 January 2017Public Reporting of Mortality Rates for Hospitalized Medicare PatientsKaren E. Joynt, MD, MPH, E. John Orav, PhD, Jie Zheng, PhD, and Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPHKaren E. Joynt, MD, MPHFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, E. John Orav, PhDFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, Jie Zheng, PhDFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, and Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPHFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L16-0546 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We share Drs. Lévesque and Sutherland's conviction that public reporting has merit above and beyond its potential contribution to such clinical outcomes as mortality rates. On the one hand, it may improve consumer confidence in the health care system; allow hospital leaders to compare their own performance with local or national norms; and help drive improvements in care delivery that, although they do not translate to improvements in 30-day mortality rates, may nevertheless be highly beneficial. On the other hand, public reporting may be associated with substantial costs, including the administrative burden for hospitals; risk aversion for clinicians ...References1. Joynt KE, Blumenthal DM, Orav EJ, Resnic FS, Jha AK. Association of public reporting for percutaneous coronary intervention with utilization and outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries with acute myocardial infarction. JAMA. 2012;308:1460-8. [PMID: 23047360] doi:10.1001/jama.2012.12922 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. McCabe JM, Kennedy KF, Eisenhauer AC, Waldman HM, Mort EA, Pomerantsev E, et al. Reporting trends and outcomes in ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction national hospital quality assessment programs. Circulation. 2014;129:194-202. [PMID: 24249721] doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.006165 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Lindenauer PK, Lagu T, Shieh MS, Pekow PS, Rothberg MB. Association of diagnostic coding with trends in hospitalizations and mortality of patients with pneumonia, 2003-2009. JAMA. 2012;307:1405-13. [PMID: 22474204] doi:10.1001/jama.2012.384 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M15-1462. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoPublic Reporting of Mortality Rates for Hospitalized Medicare Patients and Trends in Mortality for Reported Conditions Karen E. Joynt , E. John Orav , Jie Zheng , and Ashish K. Jha Public Reporting of Mortality Rates for Hospitalized Medicare Patients Jean-Frédéric Lévesque and Kim Sutherland Metrics Cited byThe Impact of the Transition From Volume to Value on Heart Failure Care: Implications of Novel Payment Models and Quality Improvement Initiatives 3 January 2017Volume 166, Issue 1Page: 75-76KeywordsConflicts of interestDeath ratesDisclosureHealth careHealth care qualityMedicareMortalityRisk management ePublished: 3 January 2017 Issue Published: 3 January 2017 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2017 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...