Effect of Cause-of-Death Training on Agreement Between Hospital Discharge Diagnoses and Cause of Death Reported, Inpatient Hospital Deaths, New York City, 2008 - 2010
ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 12 — January 15, 2015
| Percentage of discordance | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention hospitals | NA | NA | 20.2 | 18.6 | 8.9 | NA |
| Nonintervention hospitals | NA | NA | 11.8 | 11.1 | 9.8 | NA |
| Total | NA | NA | 14.9 | 13.6 | 9.6 | NA |
| Deaths reported as due to heart disease | 39.4 | 39.7 | 39.1 | 38.0 | 34.1 | 32.0 |
Abbreviation: NA, not applicable.
Figure 1. Five-year trend in death certificates reporting heart disease as an underlying cause of death (2006–2011) and 3-year trend in discordance among reports of heart disease deathsa (2008–2010) in New York City. Abbreviation: NA, not applicable. We defined discordant reports of heart disease as deaths for which the death certificate reported an underlying cause of death of heart disease and the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System hospital discharge record had no corresponding diagnosis of heart disease.
| Reports of Sepsis | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 10.53 | 8.94 | 11.26 |
| Intervention hospitals | 0.61 | 1.03 | 3.59 |
| Nonintervention hospitals | 9.92 | 7.91 | 7.7 |
Figure 2. Comparison of reports of sepsis as an immediate, intermediate, or underlying cause of death on the death certificate for inpatient deaths, by intervention hospitals versus nonintervention hospitals, New York City 2008–2010. Intervention hospitals include the 8 hospitals that participated in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s 2009 cause-of-death reporting training intervention.
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