Inpatient care of elderly is tops

Utah's quality of inpatient care for the elderly improved more than any other state the past three years and is the best in the country, according to a study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Utah's performance improved more than twice the national average and 29 percent greater than the improvements in the second-ranking state, New Hampshire.

The study, "Improvement in the Quality of Care Delivered to Medicare Beneficiaries: 1998-99 to 2000-2001," tracked performance on 24 quality indicators related to six disease areas such as administration of aspirin after heart attack, regular blood sugar testing for diabetes and mammogram screening for breast cancer. It compares 2001 national and state data to 1998 baseline data published in JAMA in November 2000.

When outpatient services to the elderly are included, Utah's overall ranking is 5th in the country, compared to 14th three years ago.

The data was gathered from hospitals and clinics. The study did not include nursing homes or other long-term care centers.

"These are more than just numbers," said Tom Jackson, vice president of operations at HealthInsight, a private nonprofit company that contracts with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services to help medical care providers improve.

"Many lives are saved or improved every day because of the improvements Utah hospitals have made in the way they treat chronic and serious illnesses."

HealthInsight assists care providers in narrowing the gap between what medical experts say should be standard practices and the care actually being provided to senior citizens.

The organization has begun a joint program with the federal government to improve area nursing homes. About 60 Utah care centers are enrolled in the improvement course.

The JAMA study shows overall improvement nationwide in the health care provided to Medicare beneficiaries, but also shows several areas are in need of improvement. The wide differences in the quality of care state-to-state is the main problem, the journal reports.

"Utah's standing indicates to me that it is not only continuing its efforts to improve, it continues to maintain a culture for innovation that leads to improvements," Jackson said.

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E-MAIL: jthalman@desnews.com