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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The death rate from heart bypass surgery done at New Jersey hospitals fell nearly 12 percent in 2004 and has been cut in half in the decade the state has been publicizing outcomes, the latest report shows.
On average, 2 percent of the 6,177 patients who had heart bypass surgery in 2004 died in the hospital or within 30 days of their surgery, according to a state report released Wednesday. That was down from more than 4 percent in 1994-95, when the first report was done by the state Department of Health and Senior Services.
The new state report gives death rates, the number of operations performed and average length of stay for the 17 hospitals that did bypass surgery in 2004 — the most recent year for which figure were available — along with details on the performance of 49 heart surgeons at the different hospitals.
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