Memorial Medical Center received higher-than-expected ratings this year for patient mortality rates in several high-risk areas.
And in 2008, Windber Medical Center had similar high mortality marks in certain key care areas, according to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report.
Should people be concerned about the level of care they are receiving? Of course. We should all be focused on the quality of care we receive from our health-care institutions.
But here’s what we think you should really be concerned about: What do reports such as these really tell us about our hospitals, and how do our hospitals react to these reports?
In both areas, we are comfortable with what we see from local hospitals.
Leaders at the local facilities say they appreciate and utilize the feedback – even potentially negative information – they get through such reports.
That’s good news for health-care consumers.
And hospital officials say they do make some procedural changes aimed at improving patients’ chances for survival and recovery.
In fact, Windber was able to avoid “black marks” this year after having six in 2008.
“We are always looking at performance improvement,” said Linda Wedge, Windber hospital’s vice president for clinical services.
Which is how Memorial officials say they are using their 2009 report – as a tool for being better in 2010.
At both hospitals, the high mortality rates were in areas where dying is always a possibility – such as pulmonary disease, infectious pneumonia, congestive heart failure, stroke, acute kidney failure and abdominal bleeding.
In addition, the hospitals noted, programs such as hospice – for those patients literally at the end of life – are reflected in the mortality reports.
For Memorial, numbers can become skewed because the area’s largest hospital is a trauma center that also provides numerous high-risk surgery and treatment options.
“In our market,” said Dr. David Carlson, Memorial’s chief medical officer, “we are the place people come when they are very, very sick.”
That does not make Memorial immune from criticism, and we expect that Conemaugh Health System is taking steps to bring down mortality rates next year.
But it is doing it because that’s what good hospitals do, not because it wants to avoid negative publicity.
In fact, while the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council was rating Memorial’s mortality rates, the hospital was being ranked among the top 5 percent of health-care facilities in the country for its efforts in key treatment areas.
“We evaluate regularly, individual by individual,” Carlson said. “We have multiple processes to help us improve our out-comes.”
We’re fortunate to have in our community several fine hospitals, led by Memorial, and many outstanding doctors.
And we know they take every report seriously as they work toward making all of us healthier.
