Admission to a top-ranked hospital for neurology or neurosurgery was associated with lower 30-day risk-standardized mortality but higher readmission after ischemic stroke, according to a recent study. The analysis was based on the 2015-2016 U.S. News & World Report ranking of the 50 top-rated hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery and 2012-2014 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare Data. Researchers used mixed models adjusted for hospital characteristics and weighted by hospital volume to compare 30-day risk-standardized mortality and readmission between top-ranked and other hospitals. Among the 50 top-ranked hospitals, they determined whether ranking order was associated with the CMS outcomes. They found:

• Compared with 2,737 other hospitals, the 50 top-ranked hospitals had lower 30-day mortality (14.8% vs 15.3%) but higher readmission (14.5% vs 13.3%).
• These patterns persisted in adjusted analyses with top-ranked hospitals having .72% lower mortality and .41% higher readmission.
• Among top-ranked hospitals, rank order was not associated with mortality (.05% decrease in mortality with each rank,) or readmission (.02% increase).