Differences among hospitals in delivery of care for heart failure

Larger, urban teaching hospitals with larger volumes and greater availability of advanced services provide better care for certain diseases. Because such advanced services have limited importance for routine heart failure management, no hospital type is "disadvantaged." Data on 1,180 congestive heart failure patients were studied to assess the quality of care provided by various types of hospitals. Overall, there was no particular type of hospital that performed consistently better or worse across the quality indicators studied. Substantial opportunities for improvement exist among all hospital types in Tennessee.