Quality, patient safety measures: 2018 vs. most recent stats

Amid the pandemic, officials have struggled to piece together an accurate picture of patient safety and care quality in the U.S., with healthcare systems overwhelmed and data backlogs prevalent.

Early metrics tracking healthcare-associated infections and other complications of care indicate significant deterioration of multiple patient safety measures amid the pandemic, according to an analysis published Feb. 12 by The New England Journal of Medicine. 

Below, Becker's has compiled data on quality care measures from both 2018 and 2020-21 in an attempt to provide further context for healthcare leaders. Data was taken from both CMS' "Timely and Effective Care-National Averages" and "Complications and Deaths-National Averages" reports.  

Data from 2018 was accessed in February 2020 and represents annual data as of May 2018, the latest available at the time, and representing a time before the emergence of COVID-19. Data from 2020-21 was accessed in January 2022 and is the most recent data currently available. Data from the first and second quarters of 2020 are excluded because of the effect of the pandemic. Because of the pandemic-related factors, the more recent data measures were calculated from differing time frames, as noted below.  

The following represent the average percentage of patients in the U.S. who experienced the conditions.

Outpatients with chest pain or possible heart attack

2020-21 data was collected from July 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. 

Median time to transfer to another facility for acute coronary intervention

2018: 58 minutes

2020-21: 61 minutes

Flu vaccination

2020-21 data was collected from Oct. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021.   

Healthcare workers who received flu vaccination

2018: 90 percent

2020-21: 86 percent

Pregnancy and delivery care

2020-21 data was collected from July 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. 

Mothers whose deliveries were scheduled one to two weeks early when a scheduled delivery was not medically necessary

2018: 2 percent

2020-21: 3 percent 

Emergency department care

Average time patient spent in the ED before being sent home

2018: 141 minutes

2020-21: 149 minutes  

**2020-21 data was collected from July 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. 

Percentage of patients who left the ED before being seen

2018: 2 percent

2020: 2 percent  

**2020 data was collected from Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020.

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