Study: Heart Failure Hospital Stays Fall, Saving About $4B

A recent Journal of the American Medical Association study found that hospitalization rates for heart failure dropped by 29.5% from 1998 to 2008, generating at least $4.1 billion in health care savings. Yale University researchers and colleagues examined fee-for-service claims for 55 million Medicare patients during the 10-year period. They found that the risk-adjusted rate of heart failure hospitalizations fell from 2,845 per 100,000 person-years in 1998 to 2,007 per 100,000 person-years in 2009. The study attributed the drop to several factors, including improved blood pressure control methods, improved use of evidence-based therapies and a shift toward outpatient heart failure treatment.

• "Heart Failure Hospital Stays Fall, Saving Billions" (Johnson, AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/18).
• "Heart Failure Hospitalization Rates Fall, JAMA Study Says" (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 10/18).
• "Sharp Drop in Heart Failure Admissions, First Ever" (Phend, MedPage Today, 10/18).
• "Heart-Failure Hospital Stays Fall Among Elderly as U.S. Saves $4 Billion" (Fay Cortez, Bloomberg, 10/18).