Complications and Profits

This paper fromJAMA had the health blogosphere in a tizzy recently.  TheBoston Consulting Group reviewed surgical discharge data from a 12-hospital system in the southern US to see if there was a "relationship" between surgical complications and hospital profits.  Their findings were obvious and unsurprising:When a privately insured patient experiences one or more complications -- such as blood clots, stroke, infection, septic shock, pneumonia or cardiac arrest -- hospitals' profit margins are 330% higher compared to a patient with no complications, the report found.ForMedicare patients with complications, hospitals' profit margins are 190% higher, according to the report... So if a patient develops a medical condition that requires further medical treatment with utilization of resources and involvement of other specialists then we are supposed to be astounded that the resultant costs will be higher?  This may sound controversial but who cares?  Why is this an issue? The problem is being painted as one of doctors expecting to be paid for doing the hard work of managing a surgical complication.  Complications are part of medicine, especially surgery.  A major part of what makes a good general surgeon is his ability to manage a difficult case, including the judgment as to when to return a patient to the operating room.  Anastomotic leaks in Crohn's patients on steroids will happen.  Bile leaks from the liver ...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - Category: Surgery Authors: Source Type: blogs