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High mortality, rehospitalization rates found for Medicare recipients after ischemic stroke
Fonarow G. Stroke. 2010;doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.601831.
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Close to two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries died or were rehospitalized within 1 year of being discharged for ischemic stroke, according to newly published data.
Researchers from the United States and Canada collected and analyzed data from 91,134 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. The patients (mean age, 79.3 years; 58% women) were treated between April 2003 and December 2006 at 625 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals, a program supported by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.
According to study data, 5,662 patients (6.1%) died during hospitalization for ischemic stroke. The unadjusted mortality rate for 30 days after admission was 14.1%, and at 1 year, it was 31.1%. Overall mortality or readmission rate at 1 year of discharge was 61.9%, with no improvements in either reported during the timeframe of the study.
“This study demonstrates that outcomes early after hospitalization for ischemic stroke for Medicare beneficiaries at the hospital level are often poor,” the researchers wrote, adding that the findings underscore the need for quality improvement interventions and systems of care that will improve early, intermediate and long-term outcomes of patients with acute ischemic stroke.
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