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Report studies bypass surgeries studies bypass surgeries studies bypass surgeries studies bypass surgeries

The Associated Press
Friday August 03, 2001

SACRAMENTO — Hospitals that perform a relatively small number of bypass surgeries did well in the first report measuring how California hospitals do in bypass operations. 

The study, released Thursday by a state agency and coalition of employers, shows that hospitals that do a small number of surgeries “can perform quite well,” said Dr. David M. Carlisle, the director of the Office of Statewide Health. 

Of the 79 hospitals that volunteered data for the study, only four performed worse than expected. Hospitals were ranked by whether their results were better, worse, or the same as expected. The expectations were based on the risk level of the patients. 

There are 118 hospitals that perform coronary artery bypass grafts in California. 

Of the hospitals that participated, three did better than expected, and four performed worse. 

The three hospitals that performed better than expected were Summit Medical Center in the Bay area, Sutter Memorial in Sacramento, and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Orange County. Mercy San Juan Hospital in Sacramento, John Muir Medical Center in the Bay Area, Downey Community Hospital in Downey, and Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital in the Los Angeles area performed worse than expected. 

About 27,000 Californians undergo coronary bypass graft bypass surgery each year. 

California, where hospitals are not required to release detailed information about performance results, is the fourth state to do a voluntary study, Damberg said. New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have also done voluntary studies. 

A coronary artery bypass graft reroutes blood to the heart after the vessels to the heart have narrowed by creating new vessels from veins in the leg. The overall in-hospital death rate associated with the procedure is 2.6 percent. 

The study is the first in a series of reports on bypass surgery mortality. The results were based on data from 70 percent of bypass surgeries done from 1997-1998. 

The next report, which will show results for 1999, is scheduled for release later this year. 

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On the Net: 

Read the full report at the Office of Statewide Health Planning Web site http://www.oshpd.state.ca.us 

or at the Pacific Business Group on Health Web site at http://www.pbgh.org