Variation in critical care unit admission rates and outcomes for patients with acute coronary syndromes or heart failure among high- and low-volume cardiac hospitals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Little is known about cross-hospital differences in critical care units admission rates and related resource utilization and outcomes among patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) or heart failure (HF).

Methods and results

Using a population-based sample of 16,078 patients admitted to a critical care unit with a primary diagnosis of ACS (n=14,610) or HF (n=1467) between April 1, 2003 and March 31, 2013 in Alberta, Canada, we stratified hospitals into high (>250), medium (200 to 250), or low (<200) volume based on their annual volume of all ACS and HF hospitalization. The percentage of hospitalized patients admitted to critical care units varied across low, medium, and high-volume hospitals for both ACS and HF as follows: 77.9%, 81.3%, and 76.3% (

SUBMITTER: van Diepen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4392446 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature