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Cross-sectional analyses of data from Medicare administrative claims for all fee-for-service beneficiaries hospitalized between 2004 and 2006 in acute care hospitals in US was conducted to determine the association between hospital volume threshold and the death rate for patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, or pneumonia. Admission to higher-volume hospitals was found to be associated with a reduction in mortality for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia, but volume threshold above which an increased condition-specific hospital was not significantly associated with reduced mortality.

A study was conducted to evaluate the low-dose ionizing radiation exposure that occurs after medical imaging procedures. Results indicate that such procedures lead to high cumulative effective doses of radiation.

Black heart attack patients who are treated by a black doctor are no more likely to have cardiac catheterization then black patients treated by a white doctor. Black heart attack patients as a group are less likely to have cardiac catheterization than whites, but a study of 35,676 white patients and 4,039 black patients found this was not caused by the race of the doctor.

Heart attack patients admitted to hospitals ranked high on a U.S. News & World Report annual list have lower mortality rates because these hospitals are more likely to use aspirin and beta blockers. Researchers compared mortality rates among elderly heart attack patients at three different types of hospitals: those whose cardiology services ranked high on the America's Best Hospitals list, similarly-equipped hospitals not ranked as high, and all other hospitals. Although 30-day mortality rates were lowest at the high-ranking hospitals, these hospitals were also more likely to use aspirin and beta blockers. After adjusting for this factor, mortality rates were approximately the same.