Deconstructing improvements and hospital variation in COVID-19 mortality rates during the early pandemic wave: the effects of wave evolution and advances in testing, treatment, and hospital care quality

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to millions of deaths around the world and placed unprecedented strains on healthcare systems. Several studies early in the pandemic demonstrated substantial variation in COVID-19-associated mortality rates among hospitalised patients across and within countries, suggesting that hospital factors such as bed capacity, adequacy of staffing, supplies of ventilators and other critical equipment, and/or quality of care had a major impact on patient outcomes.1–3 These analyses have been difficult to interpret, however, because variation in outcomes may also reflect community-based factors beyond the control of hospitals such as differences in testing capacity, thresholds for hospital admission, and patient case mix. Nonetheless, rigorously examining trends in COVID-19 outcomes and the contribution of potentially modifiable hospital factors to mortality is critical given the spectre of additional variant-fueled surges as well as future novel threats. An article in this issue of BMJ...
Source: Quality and Safety in Health Care - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Editorials Source Type: research