A recent analysis was just completed by the centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and HCP’s Sharon-Lise Normand, PhD contributed to this research. The study’s objective was to estimate hospital-specific 30-day risk-standardized mortality rates and 30-day risk-standardized readmission rates for Medicare patients treated for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or heart failure (HF) between July 2005 and June 2008. The extensive research study included about 500,000 and one million AMI and HF cases, respectfully, treated at more than 4000 US hospitals. Half of the nations’ hospitals had mortality rates higher than 16% and 11% for AMI and HF respectfully. Readmission rates were high – half the hospitals had rates greater than 19% for AMI and 24% for HF. USA Today reported that “Researchers also found that the majority of U.S. hospitals operate the equivalent of revolving doors for their patients. One of every four heart failure patients and slightly less than one in five heart attack and pneumonia patients land back in the hospital within 30 days, data show.” The NY Times also responded to the study and reported that “the stakes are high for hospitals:  Congress and the Obama administration are considering financial penalties for hospitals with high rates of readmissions and incentives for those with low rates.” It is likely that this study will spark changes in the way hospitals are managed and in the way patients chose their health care providers. To learn more about this study, read the publication that summarizes it on Circulation’s website or visit the following news sites: Boston.com, USA TODAY, the New York Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bloomberg.com, ABC News.com, Greenbay Press Gazette, Worcester Telegram, Dallas News, Enterprise News, TampaBay.com, Lancaster Eagle Gazette, Modern Healthcare, Star Telegram, Times Union, Patriot Ledger, and MedPage Today.