Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction Affects Up to 17.5% of Patients at Selected Alabama Hospitals
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By: James Pitt  Jun. 22, 2018

According to the Centers for Disease Control, heart failure remains the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. Dexur analysts examined rates of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) at Alabama hospitals with over 1,500 Medicare-eligible inpatient discharges per year. HFrEF is a subtype of heart failure generally associated with worse outcomes than heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Dexur has previously reported on HFrEF’s effects on coronary bypass patients in Massachusetts and acute myocardial infarction patients in Florida.

In Alabama, the percentage of all inpatient discharges who had HFrEF ranged from a high of 17.53% at Vaughan Regional Medical Center (Selma, AL) to a low of 3.12% at Brookwood Baptist Health - Brookwood (Birmingham, AL). The average rate of HFrEF was around 7.5% of inpatient discharges. Hospitals whose patient population had an average rate of HFrEF for Alabama included Huntsville Hospital (Huntsville, AL) at 8.08%, Jackson Hospital and Clinic (Montgomery, AL) at 7.56%, and St. Vincent’s East (Birmingham, AL) at 6.92%.

Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction % of All Inpatient Discharges Alabama Hospitals

Obesity is a risk factor for heart failure, as well as a cluster of other conditions collectively referred to as metabolic syndrome due to their frequent co-occurrence. Alabama currently has the highest rate of obesity in the US in CDC data. There appeared to be a modest relationship between obesity rate and the percentage of discharges with HFrEF. The hospital with the highest HFrEF rate in the sample (Vaughan Regional Medical Center Parkway, 29%) was located in the county with the highest obesity rate in the sample (Dallas County, 40.8%). Hospitals in Baldwin County (27.4% obesity) had below-average HFrEF rates, including 4.89% at South Baldwin Regional Medical Center and 5.64% at Thomas Hospital.

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  1. Total Discharges
  2. Total HFrEF Discharges
  3. % of HFrEF Discharges
  4. Total Prior Hospitalization in Prior 30 Days
  5. % of Total Discharges With Condition Who Were Hospitalized in Prior 30 Days

From 2013-2016, at the following hospitals:

  1. Huntsville Hospital
  2. UAB Hospital
  3. DCH Regional Medical Center
  4. Southeast Alabama Medical Center
  5. Mobile Infirmary
  6. St Vincents Hospital - Birmingham
  7. Brookwood Baptist Health - Brookwood
  8. Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital
  9. East Alabama Medical Center
  10. Baptist Medical Center South
  11. Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center - Anniston
  12. Gadsden Regional Medical Center
  13. Grandview Medical Center
  14. Jackson Hospital & Clinic
  15. Providence Hospital
  16. Brookwood Baptist Health - Princeton
  17. Crestwood Medical Center
  18. St Vincents East
  19. Brookwood Baptist Health - Shelby
  20. Marshall Medical Center South
  21. Thomas Hospital
  22. Cullman Regional Medical Center
  23. Springhill Medical Center
  24. Prime Healthcare Services Gadsden Llc
  25. Helen Keller Memorial Hospital
  26. South Baldwin Regional Medical Center
  27. Baptist Medical Center East
  28. Medical West Hospital
  29. Vaughan Regional Medical Center Parkway
  30. Brookwood Baptist Health - Walker
  31. Athens - Limestone Hospital
  32. Shoals Hospital
  33. Russell Medical Center

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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James Pitt

James Pitt is a science writer with experience in medical devices and textbook publishing. His hobbies include reading, flintknapping, and squinting at RStudio. He received a bachelor's in Human Evolutionary Biology from Harvard.