Counting in-hospital deaths in England: a comparison of hospital computer systems and mortuary registers
Counting in-hospital deaths in England: a comparison of hospital computer systems and mortuary registers
Objectives: In-hospital death counts derived from hospital computer systems have been used in England by an independent company, 'Dr Foster', to rank the quality of care of hospitals, but the validity of the underlying data remains unclear. This study compares counts of in-hospital deaths using two different sources - the hospital computer system and the mortuary register - to determine: whether the counts of in-hospital deaths from these two sources differed; qualitative explanations for possible sources of discrepancy; the direction and magnitude of any differences; and the possible impact of any differences on the Dr Foster rankings.
Methods: The four highest and the four lowest National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in the West Midlands, as ranked by Dr Foster, participated. Each hospital was asked to compare the monthly counts of in-hospital deaths from the hospital computer system and the hospital mortuary register for the fiscal year 1999/2000.
Results: One hospital, with a computerised mortuary register, had identical counts of in-hospital deaths. Two hospitals reported 4-5% more deaths and four hospitals reported fewer deaths (0.4-7%) from their hospital computer system than from their mortuary register. These differences were not large enough to change their Dr Foster rankings. Wide discrepancies were noted on a monthly basis (range: -13.9% to +15.9%).
Discussion: The differences between the two sources of in-hospital death counts were not large enough to influence the Dr Foster ranks but were sufficient to raise concern about the validity and completeness of mortality data in the NHS.
100-103
Mohammed, Mohammed
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Raftery, James
27c2661d-6c4f-448a-bf36-9a89ec72bd6b
LeatherBarrow, Martin
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Harley, Mike
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Marshall, Tom
01ede45b-09dc-4ed0-8971-ecb9d7e7b2ac
2004
Mohammed, Mohammed
db12eb4a-f11c-4c03-895c-b5443aef0ff8
Raftery, James
27c2661d-6c4f-448a-bf36-9a89ec72bd6b
LeatherBarrow, Martin
b400b3ab-fa72-46b2-ae77-4f51fb26d902
Harley, Mike
1e54c2e8-1417-489a-a8dd-3ee7392d9ea2
Marshall, Tom
01ede45b-09dc-4ed0-8971-ecb9d7e7b2ac
Mohammed, Mohammed, Raftery, James, LeatherBarrow, Martin, Harley, Mike and Marshall, Tom
(2004)
Counting in-hospital deaths in England: a comparison of hospital computer systems and mortuary registers.
Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 9 (2), .
(doi:10.1258/135581904322987517).
Abstract
Objectives: In-hospital death counts derived from hospital computer systems have been used in England by an independent company, 'Dr Foster', to rank the quality of care of hospitals, but the validity of the underlying data remains unclear. This study compares counts of in-hospital deaths using two different sources - the hospital computer system and the mortuary register - to determine: whether the counts of in-hospital deaths from these two sources differed; qualitative explanations for possible sources of discrepancy; the direction and magnitude of any differences; and the possible impact of any differences on the Dr Foster rankings.
Methods: The four highest and the four lowest National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in the West Midlands, as ranked by Dr Foster, participated. Each hospital was asked to compare the monthly counts of in-hospital deaths from the hospital computer system and the hospital mortuary register for the fiscal year 1999/2000.
Results: One hospital, with a computerised mortuary register, had identical counts of in-hospital deaths. Two hospitals reported 4-5% more deaths and four hospitals reported fewer deaths (0.4-7%) from their hospital computer system than from their mortuary register. These differences were not large enough to change their Dr Foster rankings. Wide discrepancies were noted on a monthly basis (range: -13.9% to +15.9%).
Discussion: The differences between the two sources of in-hospital death counts were not large enough to influence the Dr Foster ranks but were sufficient to raise concern about the validity and completeness of mortality data in the NHS.
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Published date: 2004
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Local EPrints ID: 24424
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/24424
ISSN: 1355-8196
PURE UUID: a9057388-0d86-4091-a0cc-881f35478ae6
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Date deposited: 30 Mar 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:55
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Author:
Mohammed Mohammed
Author:
Martin LeatherBarrow
Author:
Mike Harley
Author:
Tom Marshall
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