May 9th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in News, Research
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One-third (33.5%) of female heart attack patients receive surgery or angioplasty compared to nearly half (45.6%) of men, and among heart attack patients receiving an intervention such as coronary bypass surgery or angioplasty, women had a 30% higher death rate compared to men, reports HealthGrades.
The findings are based on an analysis of more than 5 million Medicare patient records from 2007 to 2009 and focused on 16 of the most common procedures and diagnoses among women.
The most noticeable disparities were in cardiovascular care. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in America, surpassing all forms of cancer combined, the company said in a press release. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 24th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in News
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The U.S. age-adjusted death rate fell for the tenth consecutive year, to an all-time low of 741 deaths per 100,000 people in 2009, 2.3% lower than 2008, according to preliminary 2009 death statistics released by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The findings come from “Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2009,” which is based on death certificates from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
Life expectancy at birth increased to 78.2 years in 2009, up slightly from 78.0 years in 2008. Life expectancy was up two-tenths of a year for men (75.7 years) and up one-tenth of a year for women (80.6 years). Life expectancy for the U.S. white population increased by two-tenths of a year. Life expectancy for black men (70.9 years) and women (77.4 years) was unchanged in 2009. The gap in life expectancy between the white and black populations was 4.3 years in 2009, two-tenths of a year increase from the gap in 2008 of 4.1 years.
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
March 10th, 2009 by KevinMD in Better Health Network
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Patients don’t choose the days they get sick.
There are several studies, specifically dealing with heart attacks, showing that the mortality rate increases when a patient visits the hospital during the weekend.
It appears that the same goes for upper GI bleeding. MedPage Today discusses a recent study showing that “patients with nonvariceal upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage had a 22% increased mortality risk on weekends, and those with peptic ulcer-related hemorrhage had an 8% higher risk.”
Staffing issues, leading to delayed endoscopies, appear to be chief culprit. Minutes count in cases of GI bleeding, so the delay is a likely explanation for the higher mortality rates.
Especially in community hospitals, doctors often cover for one another, and in general, there are less physicians available. Short of having more doctors on call, a prospect that faces long odds as hospitals are loathe to pay specialists for additional call, I’m not sure what can be done to rectify this statistic.
One suggestion is to have so-called “bleed teams,” where staff can be quickly mobilized to respond solely to acute GI bleeds. But again, this likely would require more staff, and it’s dubious that hospitals are willing to bear the additional cost.
**This post was originally published at KevinMD.com**
