Why Surgical Volumes Should Be Public

By PETER PRONOVOST, MD Her voice cracked with strain. I could imagine the woman at the other end of the line shaking, overcome with remorse about the hospital where her husband had had esophageal surgery. Might he still be alive, she asked me, if they had chosen a different hospital? The couple had initially planned to have the procedure done at a well-known medical center, but when she went online to do her homework, she discovered that the hospital’s patient safety scores were poor. Another hospital in her community had stronger patient safety ratings, so they decided to have the procedure there. It made sense. Why wouldn’t they go to a safer hospital? What she didn’t know was that multiple studies over several decades have shown outcomes are better when procedures are handled by surgeons and hospitals with higher volumes, and while the well-known hospital had performed the procedure her husband needed many times during the previous year, the hospital they chose had done one. That information was neither publicly available nor discussed with the couple. The patient’s wife also hadn’t realized that the accuracy of some patient safety ratings can be poor, in large part because they use data from Medicare billing rather than clinical documentation. These are not distinctions average consumers can be expected to know. Initially, the surgery seemed to go well. But two days later, the man developed a rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and danger...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs