Invited Commentary

The American College of Surgeons is dedicated to improving the outcomes of surgical patients and, as part of that, seeks better understanding of “the landscape of the quality problem.” Citing this position as a rallying cry, Becher and colleagues1 sought and found significant variation in hospital mortality rates in geriatric emergency general surgery (EGS). Using the California State Inpatient Database from 2010–2011 and hierarchical modelling, they clearly demonstrated that in a cohort of 107 hospitals, the standardized mortality rate (SMR) on a hospital level varied from as high as 230% of expected to as low as 30% of the expected rate when looking at 8 commonly performed EGS procedures.
Source: Journal of the American College of Surgeons - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: Invited commentary Source Type: research