Few top-ranked hospitals in impoverished communities reflected in worse surgical outcomes

Shaikh et al. submit an analysis of outcomes of major surgical procedures among medicare beneficiaries at top-ranked 50 hospitals comparing patients based on county poverty level over three decades. The authors should be commended for this innovative approach to assessing disparities in surgical care. The authors found that important surgical outcome measures were better for patients undergoing four major surgical procedures - specifically, 30-day mortality, complications, and failure to rescue were lower for patients treated at top-ranked hospitals.

Source: American Journal of Surgery - October 21, 2023 Category: Surgery Authors: Jose Chavez, Minerva Angelica Romero Arenas Tags: Invited Commentary Source Type: research