THE SIZE IS ESSENTIAL

The mortality rate in the hospital may depend on its size. According to a recent U.S. study, patients who are having a heart attack, a cardiac insufficiency or pneumonia perform better in a large hospital. An international research team from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which the data of nearly 3.5 million patients from more than 4,500 hospitals were evaluated according to their size. The mortality within 30 days showed significant trends. The mortality rate for acute myocardial infarction began at 23 percent in the smallest hospitals and improved to just fewer than 3 percent for hospitals with 610 and infarctions per year. Cardiac Insufficiency declined from 20 percent in the smallest houses to 2 percent in the biggest hospitals. According to Pneumonia they established a decline of 10 to 3 percent.

Source: Forum of health 1/2011, Page 26