Understanding Level of Illness

It is important to understand how patient populations differ between hospitals when looking at quality data. The severity of illness, or how sick patients are, at each hospital will have some impact on overall patient outcomes. Severity of illness is also called acuity. A standard measure to compare patients' severity of illness between hospitals is called the Case Mix Index (CMI). 
 
Packard Children’s Hospital has one of the highest CMIs in the country. We had the 5th highest CMI out of 82 children’s hospitals in in the first half of 2008. In other words, Packard Children’s Hospital cares for some of the sickest children in the country. We maintain very positive outcomes compared to other children’s hospitals that see less sick children. Please visit the Quality and Safety Data section for more details of how we perform.
 

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Case Mix Index Ranking Among 82 Pediatric Hospitals January 1, 2008 – June 30, 2008

Data Source: NACHRI Case Mix Program