Hospitals statewide improve national rank on patient care
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Updated: April 17, 2007
According to an analysis by the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, Arkansas hospitals have gone from 49 th in the country in 2000-2001 to 35th by the end of 2004 on 20 measures focusing on management of pneumonia, heart attacks, heart failure, and surgical infection prevention.
AFMC works with hospitals across the state to increase the number of patients who receive important aspects of care.
State ranking is based on data from 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The data reflects hospital performance on more than 20 quality improvement indicators for Medicare patients.
The indicators affect care for patients who are hospitalized for surgery, heart attack, heart failure or community-acquired pneumonia.
Arkansas has shown considerable improvement on most of the measures. The state`s performance improved the most in the topic of community-acquired pneumonia. For instance, ideally all patients with pneumonia should be assessed to see if they are due for a flu shot.
In late 2000, only 5 percent of hospitalized patients were assessed for flu immunization status and immunized appropriately. By 2004, the rate had risen to more than 45 percent - higher than the national average of 43.4.
The percentage of pneumonia patients who received an antibiotic within four hours of arrival increased from 62.7 percent to 76.6 percent - compared to the national rate of 70.5 percent.
However, there is still room for improvement, particularly on most of the indicators related to heart attack (acute myocardial infarction, or AMI).
The percentage of patients receiving aspirin on arrival - long considered standard, life-saving care - rose from 75.3 to 81.2 percent. The national average is 88.4 percent.
As the state`s quality improvement organization for Medicare and Medicaid, AFMC works with hospitals, physician offices, nursing homes and home health agencies to ensure that Arkansans receive high-quality, cost-effective health care.
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