Study cites gap in women's health outcomes

American hospitals improved women's survival rates for treatment of heart disease and stroke by an average of 9.54% from 2002 through 2004, according to the third annual HealthGrades (Golden, Colorado) Women's Health Outcomes in U.S. Hospitals study.

But in-hospital mortality from cardiac disease and stroke – two major subsets of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death among U.S. women – varied widely from hospital to hospital, the study found. Best-performing hospitals had, on average, a 40% lower mortality rate than those hospitals designated as “poor” performers. Compared against “average” hospitals, best performers had, on average, a 23% lower mortality rate.

The three-year study of more than 2.1 million hospitalizations at more than 2,100 hospitals found that the greatest gap among hospitals occurred in coronary bypass surgery, where there was a relative difference of almost 50% in risk-adjusted morality associated with the best-performing hospitals, as compared to poor-performing hospitals.

“In this year's study we were pleased to see such dramatic improvement in the treatment of cardiovascular disease in women, who have historically been under-diagnosed and under-treated,” said the study's author, Samantha Collier, MD, HealthGrades' vice president of medical affairs. “But women need to know that the gap in quality between the best- and poorest-performing hospitals is real and has not closed in the three years we have been conducting this study.” Clearant implants available via direct sales

Clearant (Los Angeles), which focuses on pathogen inactivation for biological products, said that, for the first time, it has made Clearant Sterile Implants for cervical spinal allograft surgery available through its direct sales force. Clearant's team is now marketing the tissues treated with the Clearant Process to surgeons, hospitals and clinics in six U.S. markets.

Currently, the top 15 markets in the U.S. represent in excess of $200 million in bone implant sales. The top 30 to 50 surgeons in these markets perform about 80% of the procedures, allowing the company to employ a highly targeted marketing effort.