title: Association of hospital spending intensity with mortality and readmission rates in Ontario hospitals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The extent to which better spending produces higher-quality care and better patient outcomes in a universal health care system with selective access to medical technology is unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether acute care patients admitted to higher-spending hospitals have lower mortality and readmissions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population comprised adults (>18 years) in Ontario, Canada, with a first admission for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (n = 179,139), congestive heart failure (CHF) (n = 92,377), hip fracture (n = 90,046), or colon cancer (n = 26,195) during 1998-2008, with follow-up to 1 year. The exposure measure was the index hospital's end-of-life expenditure index for hospital, physician, and emergency department services.
  
  
  METHODS
  The primary outcomes were 30-day and 1-year mortality and readmissions and major cardiac events (readmissions for AMI, angina, CHF, or death) for AMI and CHF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients' baseline health status was similar across hospital expenditure groups. Patients admitted to hospitals in the highest- vs lowest-spending intensity terciles had lower rates of all adverse outcomes. In the highest- vs lowest-spending hospitals, respectively, the age- and sex-adjusted 30-day mortality rate was 12.7% vs 12.8% for AMI, 10.2% vs 12.4% for CHF, 7.7% vs 9.7% for hip fracture, and 3.3% vs 3.9% for CHF; fully adjusted relative 30-day mortality rates were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.89-0.98) for AMI, 0.81 (95% CI, 0.76-0.86) for CHF, 0.74 (95% CI, 0.68-0.80) for hip fracture, and 0.78 (95% CI, 0.66-0.91) for colon cancer. Results for 1-year mortality, readmissions, and major cardiac events were similar. Higher-spending hospitals had higher nursing staff ratios, and their patients received more inpatient medical specialist visits, interventional (AMI cohort) and medical (AMI and CHF cohorts) cardiac therapies, preoperative specialty care (colon cancer cohort), and postdischarge collaborative care with a cardiologist and primary care physician (AMI and CHF cohorts).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among Ontario hospitals, higher spending intensity was associated with lower mortality, readmissions, and cardiac event rates.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, G106-2075 Bayview Ave, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada. stukel@ices.on.ca
authors.forename: Therese A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Stukel
authors.forename: Elliott S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Alter
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guttmann
authors.forename: Dennis T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Kinwah
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: Walter P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Wodchis
authors.forename: Nancy N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Baxter
authors.forename: Craig C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Earle
authors.forename: Douglas S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D004469:Economics, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D006620:Hip Fractures / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult