Costs of care for each condition varied widely. Care for a typical patient with congestive heart failure averaged $7,114 and could range from $1,522 to $18,927, depending on which of the 3,146 hospitals discharged the patient. Cost of care for a typical patient with pneumonia averaged $7,040 and varied from $1,897 to $15,829 per hospitalization among 3,152 facilities.
"Compared with hospitals in the lowest-cost quartile [one-fourth] for congestive heart failure care, hospitals in the highest-cost quartile had higher quality-of-care scores (89.9 percent vs. 85.5 percent) and lower mortality [death] for congestive heart failure (9.8 percent vs. 10.8 percent)," the authors write. "For pneumonia, the converse was true. Compared with low-cost hospitals, high-cost hospitals had lower quality-of-care scores (85.7 percent vs. 86.6 percent) and higher mortality for pneumonia (11.7 percent vs. 10.9 percent)."
Hospitals with lower costs had similar or slightly higher 30-day readmission rates (24.7 percent for congestive heart failure and 17.9 percent for pneumonia) when compared with higher-cost hospitals (22 percent for congestive heart failure and 17.3 percent for pneumonia). However, patients initially seen in lower-cost hospitals still incurred lower overall costs of care over six months compared with patients initially seen in higher-cost hospitals ($12,715 vs. $18,411 for congestive heart failure and $10,143 vs. $15,138 for pneumonia).
Sourav RC on 27 Apr 11Sunflower seeds are famous for their health benefits. But one of the major health benefits of sunflower seeds is that they are very good for heart and cardiovascular health. Sunflower seeds are very rich with important nutrients and can be eaten as a healthy snack. Heart disease can occur because of smoking, bad lifestyle, lack of physical activity and of course, it can happen because of the heredity factor. But sunflower seeds are extremely heart healthy and regular intake of these seeds can make the heart stronger and disease free.
