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ObjectivesThis study sought to analyze recent trends over time in heart failure (HF) hospital stay rates, length of stay (LOS), and in-hospital mortality by age groups with a large national dataset of U.S. hospital discharges.BackgroundHeart failure hospital stay rates, LOS, and mortality have fallen over the past decade for older Medicare beneficiaries, but whether this holds true for younger adults is unknown.MethodsFrom the National Inpatient Sample, we calculated HF hospital stay rates, LOS, and in-hospital mortality from 2001 to 2009 with survey data analysis techniques.ResultsHospital stays (n = 1,686,089) with a primary discharge diagnosis of HF were identified from National Inpatient Sample data between 2001 and 2009. The overall national hospital stay rate decreased from 633 to 463 hospital stays/100,000 persons, (−26.9%, p-for-trend

Background: Admissions among ambulatory patients with heart failure (HF) is a key quality metric for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Yet HF patients are at risk for many acute illnesses, HF and non-HF related, and it is unknown whether specific types of admissions explain lower or higher ACO

Young women (≤55 years) experience a 2-3 fold greater mortality following acute myocardial infarction (AMI), yet it is unknown if they have an increased risk of 30-day all cause readmission, compared with similarly aged men. We sought to (a) examine sex differences in patient characteristics (i.e

Many patients are discharged to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) after hospitalization for heart failure (HF) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Yet relatively little is known about the long term outcomes of these patients, including whether outcomes vary by state rates of discharge to a SNF.

The NCDR ACTION Registry - GWTG (AR-G) uses an “all or none” composite quality score that encompasses key aspects of AMI care including timely provision of reperfusion, pharmacotherapy acutely and at discharge, as well as smoking cessation and cardiac rehabilitation referral. Little is known

To the Editor: Diuretics are a mainstay of treatment in both chronic and acute decompensated heart failure (HF). Studies during the 1990s and early 2000s show that roughly 90% of HF patients receive at least 1 class of diuretics, particularly a loop diuretic, for management of chronic ([1,2][1]) or

Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) has been used in acute heart failure (AHF) for 20 years with no consensus as to its role. Little is known about hospital practice patterns of NIPPV use in AHF, including the timing and setting of therapy, and the relationship between hospital NIPPV

Concern about rising cost has focused attention on altering hospital practices to reduce expenses. We examined variation in use of the ICU, a high cost setting, for heart failure (HF) admissions. We identified 188,216 HF discharges from 341 hospitals in the 2009-10 Premier Perspective database. We