Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 12/22/1997 All articles from this issue

2 area hospitals score high on heart attack survival rates

printer friendly version

By Carol Tiegs / Town Crier Staff Writer

Heart attack patients had better than expected survival rates at both El Camino Hospital and Stanford University Hospital, according to a statewide study recently released by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

The study, which used data for the years 1991 to 1993, was based on how many heart attack patients died. It is the third study released since the California Hospital Outcomes Project was established in 1991 to give the public objective comparisons on factors besides price. El Camino Hospital, in Mountain View, also scored better than expected in the 1996 study.

Both Dr. Randy Vagelos, head of Stanford's cardiac intensive care unit, and Dr. Robert A. Ratshin, medical director for quality assessment and utilization management at El Camino Hospital, agree that this study is one moment in time.

"That period, 1991-93, is just about ancient history from a practice of medicine viewpoint," Vagelos said. "A lot is being done differently since then.

"That's the period when we became even more aggressive about doing angioplasty," he said. "It predates the period of pressure to get patients out of hospitals."

Ratshin said that "It's a marker in time. The question is whether you move beyond in terms of treatment or continue to do the same. We've continued to evaluate and use new techniques in treatment."

The study showed that hospitals scoring well "approach not only diagnosis but treatment of heart attacks more aggressively," Ratshin said. "We have always been a hospital that has been aggressive in its approach."

Ratshin said El Camino is "the equivalent of any university institution," with both logistical support and well-trained professionals. The cardiac unit has participated in several national studies and been recognized by California Medical Review, Inc., a standard-of-care review organization, for its quality of care, he said.

"It's very unusual for a community hospital to remain on the front of research," Ratshin said.

Vagelos is among those who caution the public not to place too much significance on the state study results. "There's a relative lack of data," he said, and it's not clear what the data really means.

The study has been criticized for using outdated information and failing to take socioeconomic factors into account.