Disclaimer
All hospital data used in The Fraser Institute’s Hospital Report Card: British Columbia are from the Discharge Abstract Database purchased from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. This is an administrative database containing demographic, administrative and clinical data for hospital discharges and day surgeries. Only inpatient acute care records were used in this report.

Since the Hospital Report Card is based on administrative data, the results have limitations. Coding variations exist among hospitals and codes do not always provide specific details about a patient's condition at the time of admission or capture all that occurs during hospitalization. For these reasons, individual judgment is often required while reviewing the results from this report.

When reviewing mortality or other quality and patient safety measures, remember that medicine is not a perfect science and death or complications will occur even when all standards of care are followed. Deciding on treatment options and choosing a hospital are decisions that should be made in consultation with a physician. It is not recommended to choose a hospital based solely on statistics and descriptions such as those given in this report.

CIHI Acknowledgment and Disclaimer
Parts of this material are based on data and information provided by the Canadian Institute for Health Information. The Canadian Institute for Health Information does not endorse or support the methodology used by the Fraser Institute and therefore, the analyses, conclusions, opinions and statements expressed herein are those of the authors and not those of the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Hospital Mortality Index
The Hospital Mortality Index was created to allow examination of the overall performance of a hospital or municipality across several mortality indicators. The Hospital Mortality Index is not a comprehensive rating of overall inpatient care in a hospital setting but is a broad measure of mortality rates.