What Are We Measuring?

Heart failure, also called congestive heart failure, is a condition in which the heart cannot pump enough oxygenated blood to meet the needs of the body's other organs.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services evaluates 30-day mortality and readmission rates for heart failure patients:

  • 30-Day Mortality Rate: the percentage of heart failure patients who died within 30 days of admission to the hospital
  • 30-Day Readmission Rate: the percentage of heart failure patients who were discharged and readmitted to any hospital for any reason in the next 30 days

How Are We Performing?

Heart Failure 30-Day Mortality Rate

Lower scores are better

The following chart shows the Heart Failure 30-Day Mortality Rate from July 2016 to June 2019. 7.7% is Mass General's rate. 11.3% is the national rate. The star symbol indicates that Mass General's performance is statistically better than the benchmark.

Data Source: CMS Hospital Compare
Data Period: July 2018 – June 2021

   ★ Performance is statistically better than the benchmark
= Performance is statistically similar to the benchmark
   ▼ Performance is statistically worse than the benchmark

Heart Failure 30-Day Readmission Rate

Lower scores are better

The following chart shows the Heart Failure 30-Day Readmission Rate from July 2016 to June 2019. 20.8% is Mass General's rate. 21.9% is the national rate. The equal symbol indicates that Mass General's performance is statistically similar to the benchmark.

Data Source: Hospital Compare
Data Period: July 2018 – June 2021

   ★ Performance is statistically better than the benchmark
= Performance is statistically similar to the benchmark
   ▼ Performance is statistically worse than the benchmark