Maternal Death and VS on Maternal Death Rates

Incidental (suicide or homicide) or accidental (MVA or Fall) causes are not included in the Maternal Death Rate. It is the death of a woman from causes related to pregnancy or its management of. Direct and indirect OB deaths can be specific also. Direct OB involves the pregnancy such as a hemorrhage due to a c-section. Indirect OB death may be from a co-morbidity such as Diabetes.

Note: do not include non-maternal deaths (accidental or incidental).

Vital Statistics on Maternal Mortality Rates are used in public policies and health studies. They are usually states per 100,000. The WHO has great information on Vital Statistics on death rates.  Visit http://www.who.int/topics/mortality/en/

ref: Horton, Loretta and Margaret Theodorakis. Calculating and Reporting Healthcare Statistics, Fourth Edition. AHIMA Press.

Cancer Mortality Rates

Calculating Cancer Mortality Rates for a population is collected by the National Center of Health Statistics. They are classified by age, cancer site, race and sex.

Improvement of treatment for cancer can come from these rates. Hospital registries on cancer collect information about cancer patients. Specific diagnosis of cancer can further break down the statistics on cancer mortality rates.

ref: Horton, Loretta and Margaret Theodorakis. Calculating and Reporting Healthcare Statistics, Fourth Edition. AHIMA Press.

Newborn Mortality Rates

Definitions for Newborn Deaths/Newborn Mortality Rates

Infant deaths – any time in the first year

Neonatal deaths – liveborn death within the neonatal period. 28 days

Newborn deaths – death of a hospital liveborn infant who dies during the same admission.

Perinatal deaths –  Stillborn and neonatal deaths.

Post-neonatal deaths – After the 28th day of life through the end of the first year.

Vital Statistics for Neonatal & Infant Mortality Rates

Birth certificates are used frequently for this data. The rate is times by 100,000 for use in vital statistics in the US.

ref: Horton, Loretta and Margaret Theodorakis. Calculating and Reporting Healthcare Statistics, Fourth Edition. AHIMA Press.

Fetal Death Rates

Fetal Death Rates are calculated separately and not considered patient deaths. There are three classifications of fetal deaths:

1. Early (< 20wks of gestation  and wt 500 gm or less)
2. Intermediate (20-28 wks of gestation wt of 501-1000 gm.)
3. Late (28+ and wt of 1,001 gms or more)

 

Net Death Rate & Post-Op Death Rate

Accrediting agencies may request the Net Death Rate. This rate became important because providers had a concern on deaths less than 48 hours after admission  – they may or may not have death due to the hospitalization. Because of this, Net Death Rates excludes deaths under 48 hours.

 

Postoperative Death Rates and Surgical Death Rates refer to the same thing. It is the number of deaths occurring after an operation. In this rate, deaths 10 days after surgery are included.

Hospitals may evaluate the relationship of deaths in specific operations instead of using the postoperative death rate to evaluate the effectiveness of a hospital’s care.

ref: Horton, Loretta and Margaret Theodorakis. Calculating and Reporting Healthcare Statistics, Fourth Edition. AHIMA Press.