Heart-Failure Hospital Stays Fall Sharply

U.S. hospital stays for heart failure fell 30% in the last 10 years, a new study has found. But the death rate for these patients fell only slightly. Among those discharged in 2008, about 30% died within a year. That compares with 32% after similar hospital stays in 1998. The study was based on data for Medicare patients. The decline saved money for Medicare. Without it, hospital stays for heart failure would have cost $4.1 billion more in 2008, the study found. Many factors could have caused the improvement, experts told the Associated Press. Prevention and treatments are better, they said. More people also may be getting treatment in emergency rooms and clinics. They might not have to stay in the hospital. The nation’s new health care reform law requires hospitals to work harder to keep people with heart failure healthier after discharge.