The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council has released hospital-specific quality and payment data for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and other cardiac surgery performed in the state that shows a declining mortality rate but higher readmission rates.
Cardiac Surgery in Pennsylvania 2005 includes information on 17,331 CABG and/or valve surgeries performed in Pennsylvania hospitals in 2005. The report noted that in-hospital patient mortality following CABG surgery in Pennsylvania continued to decline, dropping from 1.98 percent in 2004 to 1.90 percent in 2005. However, both 7-day and 30-day readmission rates for CABG patients increased slightly during this same time period.
For a CABG-only procedure, commercial insurance payments averaged $30,247 and Medicare payments averaged $29,175. For a valve-only procedure, commercial payments averaged $41,651 and Medicare payments averaged $42,433. Costs were significantly higher for patients with hospital-acquired infections.
