State lists worst hospitals for care of pneumonia

Five Kaiser Permanente hospitals were among the 28 institutions with the highest death rates in California for patients with pneumonia, according to a state report to be released today.

The Kaiser hospitals in Sacramento, South Sacramento, Panorama City, Riverside and Roseville all had higher than average mortality rates between 2002 and 2004, said the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

Statewide, 12.29% of pneumonia patients -- or about one in eight -- died within 30 days of admission. The 28 hospitals that fared worst had an average mortality rate of 17.2%. By contrast, the 25 hospitals that ranked best had an average mortality rate of 8.1%.

"The report is meant to act as a report card for patients," said Mary Tran, a patient data analysis manager who helped write the study for the state agency. "People can use this to shop around for the best healthcare."

The report measured the quality of care for patients with community-acquired pneumonia in California-licensed hospitals from January 2002 through November 2004. The lag in reporting is due to the time required to collect data, verify it and adjust it for various patient characteristics, such as the severity of the illness.

Pneumonia was selected for the report card because -- like heart attack -- it is common and has a relatively high risk of death. Timely diagnosis and treatment can greatly improve a patient's chances of surviving, Tran said.

"It's a death that can be prevented with better care," Tran said. "Hospitals that seem to do better appear more active in the treatment of their patients."

Tuesday's report marks the second time the state has released findings on community-acquired pneumonia -- the type of pneumonia contracted at home or at work -- in the last three years. Pneumonia, the sixth-leading cause of death overall, is also the primary cause of deaths from infectious disease, the state agency said.

More than 203,000 adult patients with pneumonia were admitted to 390 California hospitals from 2002 through 2004. Of those, 25,027 died.

Garfield Medical Center in Monterey Park has rated better than the state average for pneumonia patients in the last two state studies. Its mortality rate in the latest study was 7.45%.

Eric Jiang, interim chief operating officer, said the center's success came from treating patients immediately by administering vaccines, prescribing antibiotics and offering counseling to help smokers quit.