Mortality Down for Admissions During Cardiology Meetings

Mortality down for high-risk patients with heart failure, cardiac arrest
Mortality Down for Admissions During Cardiology Meetings

TUESDAY, Dec. 23, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- For high-risk patients with heart failure or cardiac arrest, admission during a national cardiology meeting is associated with reduced 30-day mortality, according to a study published online Dec. 22 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Anupam B. Jena, M.D., Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues examined mortality and treatment differences among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, or cardiac arrest during dates of national cardiology meetings versus nonmeeting dates. Data were included from 2002 to 2011 during dates of two national cardiology meetings compared with identical nonmeeting days in the three weeks before and after conferences.

The researchers found that the adjusted 30-day mortality was lower among high-risk patients with heart failure (17.5 versus 24.8 percent; P < 0.001) or cardiac arrest (59.1 versus 69.4 percent; P = 0.01) admitted during meeting dates versus nonmeeting dates in teaching hospitals. For high-risk AMI, adjusted mortality was similar between meeting versus nonmeeting dates in teaching hospitals (39.2 versus 38.5 percent; P = 0.86), although during meetings, adjusted percutaneous coronary intervention rates were lower (20.8 versus 28.2 percent; P = 0.02). There were no mortality or utilization differences for low-risk patients in teaching hospitals or for high- or low-risk patients in nonteaching hospitals.

"High-risk patients with heart failure and cardiac arrest hospitalized in teaching hospitals had lower 30-day mortality when admitted during dates of national cardiology meetings," the authors write.

One author is a partner at Precision Health Economics.

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