Postpandemic Recovery of Case Mix Index and Risk-Adjusted Mortality in US Hospitals

Have patient safety indicators—specifically patient acuity as measured by case mix index and risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality—returned to their prepandemic improvement trajectories in US hospitals?In this cohort study of 715 continuously reporting US hospitals using data from the Vizient Clinical Data Base, risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality declined significantly from Q3-2021 through Q1-2024, while patient acuity as measured by case mix index remained elevated compared with prepandemic levels despite a post-2020 decline.These findings suggest that while patient acuity may reflect a new postpandemic baseline, risk-adjusted mortality has resumed its prepandemic trajectory of improvement.

Corresponding Author: Alyssa Harris, MPH, Vizient, 433 W Van Buren St, Ste 805, Chicago, IL 60607 (alyssa.harris@vizientinc.com).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.