24.12.2014 Views

National Healthcare Disparities Report - LDI Health Economist

National Healthcare Disparities Report - LDI Health Economist

National Healthcare Disparities Report - LDI Health Economist

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Effectiveness of Care<br />

Also, in the NHQR:<br />

n From 1998 to 2008, adults ages 45-64 and age 65 and over were more likely to have a blood<br />

cholesterol measurement than adults ages 18-44. Among adults under age 65, those who had public<br />

insurance or who were uninsured were less likely to have a blood cholesterol measurement than<br />

those with private health insurance.<br />

Chapter 2 Cardiovascular Disease<br />

NEW<br />

Outcome: Inpatient Deaths Following Heart Attack<br />

Heart attack, or acute myocardial infarction, is a common life-threatening condition that requires rapid<br />

recognition and efficient treatment in a hospital to reduce the risk of serious heart damage and death.<br />

Measuring processes of heart attack care can provide information about whether a patient received specific<br />

needed services, but these processes make up a very small proportion of all the care that a heart attack<br />

patient needs. Measuring outcomes of heart attack care, such as mortality, can provide a more global<br />

assessment of all the care a patient receives and usually is the aspect of quality that matters most to patients.<br />

Significant improvements in process measures of quality of care for heart attack have occurred in recent<br />

years. All process measures tracked in past reports have attained overall performance levels exceeding 95%<br />

and have been retired. Therefore, the 2011 NHQR and NHDR focus on outcome measures. Survival<br />

following admission for heart attack reflects multiple patient factors, such as a patient’s comorbidities, as well<br />

as health care system factors, such as the possible need to transfer patients to other hospitals for services. It<br />

also may partly reflect receipt of appropriate health services.<br />

Previous reports used AHRQ Quality Indicators version 3.1 to generate death rates for heart attack. The 2011<br />

reports use a modified version 4.1 of the software. While the effects of version change are extremely small,<br />

these estimates should not be compared with estimates in previous reports.<br />

60 <strong>National</strong> <strong><strong>Health</strong>care</strong> <strong>Disparities</strong> <strong>Report</strong>, 2011

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!