Oregon Hospital Quality Indicators Hospital Specific Reports

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Oregon Hospital Quality Indicators

Department

Hospital Specific Reports

Hip Fracture

Oregon 2004

What is Hip Fracture?*

A hip fracture is a break in the upper part of the thighbone (femur), which fits into the socket (acetabulum) of the hip joint. Most hip fractures occur in the femoral neck region and the intertrochanteric region, the area just below this.

See Healthwise for additional information on hip fracture.

*Adapted with permission from Healthwise® Knowledgebase, © 1995-2005 Healthwise, Incorporated, P.O. Box 1989, Boise, Idaho 83701. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

What do these indicators mean?

Volume. In contrast with some of the surgical procedures included in this report, volume is not reported for conditions. Please refer to the background information for more information on volume indicators.

Death Rate. The hip fracture death rate is the percent of patients admitted for hip fracture who died in the hospital.

However, some patients are sicker or more difficult to treat, and some hospitals admit more of these complex patients than others. Each hospital’s death rate is adjusted to help account for differences in these factors, but keep in mind that the adjustment is not perfect. The adjusted death rate is presented in the displays that follow.

The average death rate for hip fracture in the United States was 2.8% in 2002. In Oregon, the death rate was 3.3% in 2004. This report uses the statewide average as the reference rate.

Margin of Error

Horizontal lines are displayed with each hospital rate. These lines represent the amount of random variation or “noise” in the data. If the gray line crosses the state average, the hospital rate is “within the margin of error” and therefore not statistically different than the state average for this procedure. The margin of error is wider for hospitals with fewer hip fracture patients.

What do the symbols mean?

The symbols on this chart tell you which differences are large enough to be considered “statistically significant,” or outside the “margin of error”. Statistical differences are based on the margin of errors described above.

If a hospital’s rate is significantly lower than the state average, it gets a plus symbol
If a hospital’s rate is significantly higher than the state average, it gets a cross symbol
If a hospital’s rate is statistically neither higher nor lower than the state average (within the margin of error), no symbol is shown.

Special Considerations

Although many people who die as a result of a hip fracture die within a year of their hip fracture, most of these deaths do not occur in the hospital. Deaths after leaving the hospital are not included in the mortality rates provided in these reports.

Hip Fracture Death Rate

Oregon 2004

The symbols on this chart tell you which differences are outside the margin of error:

Lower than the state average

Higher than the state average
No symbol The hospital’s rate is within the margin of error and therefore not statistically different than the state average for this condition

Additional Notes

Number of hip fracture patients appears in parentheses. Hospitals not shown admitted fewer than 30 heart fracture patients in 2004.
Rates have been adjusted for age, sex, and Risk of death
Applies to adults 18 years of age and older.
See Technical Documentation for more detail
Hospitals that submitted additional information about their death rates are listed below each graph; click on the hospital name to access their comments.
Lower rates may represent better quality.