Hospital Variation in Mortality From Cardiac Arrest After Cardiac Surgery: An Opportunity for Improvement?

This study investigated failure to rescue from cardiac arrest after cardiac surgery in a data set of nearly 80,000 pts in order to determine whether variability in this outcome might provide an opportunity for quality improvement in low-performing hospitals.  The overall failure to rescue rate was 60% among over 4,100 pts who experienced postoperative cardiac arrest.  The rate ranged from 50% to 83%, with the rate varying primarily according to insitutional rather than pt factors.  Identification of best practices at high performing hospitals may offer a means to improve outcomes elsewhere.