Differences in quality of care for hospitalized elderly men and women

Article Abstract:

The quality of care given to elderly women in hospitals is probably almost as good as that given elderly men. Medical records of 11,242 patients 65 years or older in 297 hospitals in five states were used to measure the quality of care given to men and women who had suffered a heart attack or stroke, or had congestive heart failure or pneumonia. Scores were assigned to the patients to indicate the quality of the treatment they received. As a group, the women consistently had slightly lower scores than the men, although the differences were not great. The women stayed in the hospital longer and were more likely to be discharged to a nursing home. Mortality rates were the same, except for congestive heart failure; rates in men were higher than in women. When the use of various diagnostic services was examined, 82% were offered as often to women as to men. However, 15% were offered more often to men, while only 3% were offered more often to women.

Care and treatment, Medical care, Demographic aspects, Aged women, Elderly women, Aged men, Elderly men

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Watching the doctor-watchers: how well do peer review organization methods detect hospital care quality problems?

Article Abstract:

Peer review organizations (PROs) that monitor the quality of care received in hospitals by Medicare patients may need to improve their review processes to identify those who receive poor quality care. Each state has a PRO that monitors the quality of care received by Medicare patients. A review of the medical records of Medicare patients who were hospitalized found that an estimated 18% received care that was below standard. T state PRO that reviewed the same records found that only 6.3% received below standard care. The PRO identified 95% of the patients who received adequate care, but it failed to identify 11% of the patients who received poor quality care. The PRO review process needs to be more accurate to make it more cost-effective. More accurate physician review is also needed.

Standards, Evaluation, Hospitals, Professional standards review organizations (Medicine), Hospital records

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