Louisiana Cesarean Rates by Hospital, 2009

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By Jill Arnold

Louisiana had the highest cesarean rate in the nation in 2009 according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention preliminary data.

The following cesarean rates for Lousiana hospitals are based on LHIN inpatient billing data for all payors and represent the 12 months ending 12/31/2009. See below for limitations of these data. 

Hospital Name		Total C/S		Total VB		Total Births		C/S Rate
Ochsner Saint Anne General Hospital		119		73		192		62.0%
Beauregard Memorial Hospital		156		126		282		55.3%
River Parishes Hospital		126		121		247		51.0%
Huey P. Long Medical Center		52		50		102		51.0%
CHRISTUS Saint Frances Cabrini Hospital		479		472		951		50.4%
Thibodaux Regional Medical Center		334		346		680		49.1%
East Jefferson General Hospital		809		840		1649		49.1%
IASIS Glenwood Regional Medical Center		17		18		35		48.6%
Lakeview Regional Medical Center		500		532		1032		48.4%
Opelousas General Health System		589		633		1222		48.2%
Rapides Regional Medical Center		1002		1089		2091		47.9%
Savoy Medical Center		135		148		283		47.7%
St. Tammany Parish Hospital		615		687		1302		47.2%
Ochsner Medical Center - Kenner		503		587		1090		46.1%
Lincoln General Hospital		353		419		772		45.7%
American Legion Hospital		194		235		429		45.2%
Ochsner Medical Center		823		1005		1828		45.0%
West Jefferson Medical Center		539		694		1233		43.7%
Iberia Medical Center		218		285		503		43.3%
West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital		65		86		151		43.0%
Women & Children’s Hospital		520		716		1236		42.1%
CHRISTUS Schumpert Health System		353		491		844		41.8%
Minden Medical Center		299		423		722		41.4%
Slidell Memorial Hospital		312		456		768		40.6%
Franklin Foundation Hospital		43		63		106		40.6%
NorthShore Regional Medical Center		220		323		543		40.5%
Tulane Medical Center		821		1207		2028		40.5%
Willis-Knighton Bossier Health Center		354		538		892		39.7%
Terrebonne General Medical Center		769		1195		1964		39.2%
Lafayette General Medical Center		688		1073		1761		39.1%
University Medical Center in Lafayette		142		223		365		38.9%
Woman’s Hospital		3145		4955		8100		38.8%
Byrd Regional Hospital		137		216		353		38.8%
Lane Regional Medical Center		158		251		409		38.6%
Eunice Community Medical Center		160		271		431		37.1%
Lake Charles Memorial Hospital		609		1037		1646		37.0%
Women’s & Children’s Hospital		1253		2159		3412		36.7%
Ochsner Medical Center - West Bank		519		942		1461		35.5%
Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center		128		233		361		35.5%
North Oaks Medical Center		555		1026		1581		35.1%
Dauterive Hospital		186		354		540		34.4%
Natchitoches Regional Medical Center		211		414		625		33.8%
Earl K. Long Medical Center		228		457		685		33.3%
Teche Regional Medical Center		160		346		506		31.6%
Abbeville General Hospital		46		104		150		30.7%
Jennings American Legion Hospital		129		297		426		30.3%
Touro Infirmary		752		1877		2629		28.6%
St. Francis Medical Center		353		1205		1558		22.7%
		20878		31298		52176		40.0%

State-level cesarean rates from 1990-2009

Where do the inpatient services data come from? 

Inpatient Services

Information in this report is taken from a hospital’s billing data. Most hospitals participate in the Louisiana Health Information Network (LHIN), a statewide data sharing program. Participating hospitals provide billing data for all inpatients.

If a hospital does not participate in the LHIN, data in this report are taken from the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) file which is updated annually by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal organization that oversees the programs.  The file provides billing data for all Medicare fee-for-service claims. It does not, however, contain data for other patients.

Each patient is categorized into Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) according to diagnostic information, the procedures performed, patient age, and other factors.  Our report is based on DRGs, but uses modified descriptions to make them easier to read and understand.  The DRGs with the largest numbers of admissions (as ranked by volume for Louisiana hospitals) are reported:

• Categories - the most common DRGs are categorized for review.  These categories are unique to this website.
• Description - simplified descriptions are used instead of the technical terminology associated with DRGs.  DRG numbers are included within parentheses as part of the description.
• Patients - the total number of Medicare patients in the DRG category for the 12 month period being reported. 

Limitations of these data

These data do not represent all 2009 births in the state of Louisiana according to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. The Louisiana Hospital Association only has data for 52,176 births and birth certificate data show that there were 64,843 births in the state in 2009.

Births Occuring to Louisiana Residents, 2006-2010

YEAR	NUMBER
2006	63,186
2007	66,063
2008	65,076
2009	64,843
2010	61,868

CDC NCHS Method of Delivery Data by Parish, 2008

Another look at Louisiana method of delivery data is available at the county level based on CDC’s 2008 final birth data. Note: These data are from the previous calendar year ending in 12/31/2008 and are the most recent available at VitalStats.

Parish	Vaginal		C-section		Not stated		Total Births		C/S Rate
Caddo Parish,LA	2406		1524		3		3933		38.7%
Calcasieu Parish,LA	1799		1032		3		2834		36.4%
East Baton Rouge Parish,LA	4724		1652		38		6414		25.8%
Jefferson Parish,LA	3506		2610		2		6118		42.7%
Lafayette Parish,LA	2016		1191		1		3208		37.1%
Orleans Parish,LA	2712		1608		1		4321		37.2%
Ouachita Parish,LA	1523		890		7		2420		36.8%
Rapides Parish,LA	996		966				1962		49.2%
St. Tammany Parish,LA	1660		1330		3		2993		44.4%
Tangipahoa Parish,LA	1193		734		3		1930		38.0%
Terrebonne Parish,LA	1067		688				1755		39.2%
Louisiana counties <100,000 population	16826		10520		34		27380		38.4%
	40428		24745		95		65268		37.9%

C/S rate = C-section/Total Births 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. VitalStats. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/vitalstats.htm. September 20, 2011.

Recommendation

With the highest cesarean rate in the nation, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals should regularly publish inpatient utilization data on its web site that include facility-level cesarean section rates to ensure that all facilities have accurate information about their procedure usage available to the public. Engaging the consumer, a key stakeholder, by providing them with data needed to make informed decisions on their health care would be a reasonable objective to include in the DHH Birth Outcomes Initiative.

Comments

[Kassedi]

i couldnt even finish reading the list after seeing that 62% number thats rediculous, i cant imagine the excuses they have for that horrendous number..