Patient deaths are not suited for monitoring quality and patient safety in hospitals
Gerdes, L.U.; Poulstrup, A.
Ugeskrift for Laeger 174(45): 2769-2772
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 1603-6824 PMID: 23137381 Document Number: 663350
Although some patient deaths in hospitals can be prevented if quality of care and patient safety are improved, it is not given that such deaths can be used to track improvements. Since preventable deaths only amount to about 5% of all deaths, a decline in that number will be a weak signal as far as mortality is concerned. The commonly used hospital standardised mortality ratio (HSMR) has a low signal-to-noise ratio and is therefore not suitable for monitoring. The same goes for structured reviews of health-care records of deceased patients. Consequently, a need to develop alternatives exists.