News: U.S. health systems show better safety, quality than pre-pandemic, report suggests

In 2024, United States’ health systems performed better on Patient Safety Indicators (PSI) and quality measures than they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new American Hospital Association (AHA) report.

The report, conducted in collaboration with Vizient, is a follow-up analysis for a separate report published in September 2024. According to the AHA, the September report showed a “22% reduction in risk of mortality for hospitalized patients in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.”

For the new report, the AHA and Vizient examined a cohort of 713acute care hospitals for which it had a complete 18 quarters of data from fourth quarter 2019 through first quarter 2024.

The health systems examined were of four types:

• Comprehensive academic medical centers (16%)
• Large, specialized complex care medical centers (21%)
• Complex care medical centers (23%)
• Community hospitals (41%)

In terms of safety and quality improvements, here are some highlights from the report:

• Mortality: According to the analysis, risk of mortality in 2024 reached 0.79 or nearly 20% lower than its baseline of 0.97 in 2019.
• Surgical PSIs: In terms of surgical PSIs, post-operative sepsis, post-operative respiratory failure, and post-operative hemorrhaging decreased by 9.2%, 19.0%, and 22.3%, respectively.
• Infections and falls: Additionally, vascular catheter-associated infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, and falls fell by 9.2%, 6.6%, and 10.7%.

“The safety and quality improvements in surgical outcomes underscore the resilience and unwavering commitment of hospitals and health systems—and the millions of hospital team members across the country—to delivering better care to the patients and communities they serve,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack in a press statement. “While hospitals are proud of these efforts, we know there is always more work to do to deliver the highest quality care possible.”

Editor’s note: To read the AHA report, click here. To read the AHA press statement, click here.