Dive Brief:
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A new JAMA study found major teaching hospitals have lower mortality rates for common conditions compared to non-teaching hospitals.
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The study reviewed 21 million hospitalizations of Medicare beneficiaries and found that adjusted 30-day mortality rates were “significantly lower at 250 major teaching hospitals compared with 894 teaching and 3,339 nonteaching hospitals overall… as well as for several individual common medical and surgical conditions."
- The study compared mortality rates for 15 common conditions, including congestive heart failure, hip fracture, respiratory disease, and six surgical procedures. The study authors found 13 of the conditions had lower mortality rates at major teaching hospitals. Mortality rates for sepsis and stroke were similar.
Dive Insight:
The JAMA study found the 30-day mortality rate was 8.3% at major teaching hospitals, compared to 9.2% at minor teaching hospitals, and 9.5% at non-teaching hospitals. The study authors classified major teaching hospitals as being members of the Council of Teaching Hospitals and minor teaching hospitals were facilities with medical school affiliations, but who did not have membership in the council.
What is connected to the mortality rate differences? The study doesn’t go into that. That said, major teaching hospitals will likely promote the findings and the study could have payers reviewing whether more costly teaching hospitals are worth the cost because of the better mortality rates.
Teaching hospitals will celebrate the results, which was not the case when another recent study found that teaching hospitals are at a higher data breach risk.