Death Rates For These 16 Conditions Spike At PA Hospitals, New Study Finds

Mortality rates from nearly all common medical conditions have increased in Pennsylvania hospitals over the most recently studied year, according to a new analysis.

Research showed that only one medical condition had decreased morality rate, 16 medical conditions had higher mortality rates, and six of those had "statistically significant" higher mortality rates in hospitals over previous years.

The Hospital Performance Report comes from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, an independent state agency that analyzes public data. Data from the fiscal year ending in Sept. 2024 was compared to data from before the pandemic, in 2019.

The study does not theorize on specific causes for the increased rates, although the impacts of the pandemic, skyrocketing hospital admission rates, staffing cuts, and bed shortages have all been cited as leading to crises in Pennsylvania hospitals in recent years.

The 16 conditions analyzed include sepsis, pneumonia from aspiration, blood clot in lung, infectious pneumonia, heart failure, kidney and urinary tract infection, acute kidney failure, abnormal heartbeat, back problem, chest pain, COPD, heart attack, heart failure, intestinal obstruction, respiratory failure, stroke, and stomach and intestinal bleeding.

"Everyone can use this information to raise important questions about why differences
exist in the quality and efficiency of care," the analysis states.

Researchers added that the data can be used to help patients choose their care wisely and to help policymakers address needs.

“Our Hospital Performance Report is relied on across Pennsylvania as a trusted, consistent source of fact-based data, made public to ensure transparency and informed decision making," the Council's executive director, Barry Buckingham, said in a statement.

Sepsis was the condition that saw the highest increase in percentage of patients who died, with morality rates rising from 8.7 percent to 9.6 percent from 2019 to 2024.

Other conditions where deaths increased notably: pneumonia rose from 5.3 percent to 6 percent, blood clot in lung from 2.4 to 2.9 percent, and heart failure from 2.3 to 2.5 percent.

The only condition out of the 16 analyzed that did have an increased death rate over the past five years was acute kidney failure, which decreased from 2.4 to 2.2. percent.

The study also looked at how frequently patients of the same 16 common conditions had to be readmitted to hospitals within 30 days of initial discharge. Six of those conditions saw increases in 30 day readmission over the past five years, including blood clot in lung, pneumonia, back problems, sepsis, stomach and intestinal bleeding,

The report breaks down performance by each individual hospital. See how your local hospital compares here.