Trends in Hospitalizations and Outcomes for Acute Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke, 1999–2011

BACKGROUND: During the past decade, efforts focused intensely on improving the quality of care for people with, or at risk for, cardiovascular disease and stroke. We sought to quantify the changes in hospitalization rates and outcomes during this period. METHODS AND RESULTS: We used national Medicare data to identify all Fee-for-Service patients ≥65 years of age who were hospitalized with unstable angina, myocardial infarction, heart failure, ischemic stroke, and all other conditions from 1999 through 2011 (2010 for 1-year mortality). For each condition, we examined trends in adjusted rates of hospitalization per patient-year and, for each hospitalization, rates of 30-day mortality, 30-day readmission, and 1-year mortality overall and by demographic subgroups and regions. Rates of adjusted hospitalization declined for cardiovascular conditions (38.0% for 2011 compared with 1999 95% confidence interval (CI), 37.2-38.8 for myocardial infarction, 83.8% 95% CI, 83.3-84.4 for unstable angina, 30.5% 95% CI, 29.3-31.6 for heart failure, and 33.6% 95% CI, 32.9-34.4 for ischemic stroke compared with 10.2% 95% CI, 10.1-10.2 for all other conditions). Adjusted 30-day mortality rates declined 29.4% (95% CI, 28.1-30.6) for myocardial infarction, 13.1% (95% CI, 1.1-23.7) for unstable angina, 16.4% (95% CI, 15.1-17.7) for heart failure, and 4.7% (95% CI, 3.0-6.4) for ischemic stroke. There were also reductions in rates of 1-year mortality and 30-day readmission and consistency in declines among the demographic subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalizations for acute cardiovascular disease and stroke from 1999 through 2011 declined more rapidly than for other conditions. For these conditions, mortality and readmission outcomes improved.