[ad_1]
The "vast majority" of hospitals do not meet minimum volumes for eight high-risk procedures or have policies in place to monitor the appropriateness of surgeries, with rural hospitals lagging behind urban hospitals, according to a new report. Leapfrog group badysis.
Less than 3% of the 2,000 hospitals participating in the voluntary survey have reached volume thresholds for two of the high-risk procedures: repair of an open abdominal aortic aneurysm and resection of the esophagus for cancer. The survey found that 38% of hospitals had reached sufficient volumes for bariatric surgery.
"It's clear in this report that patients must be very careful before choosing a hospital for any of these high-risk procedures," Leapfrog CEO and President Leah Binder said in a statement. "Beyond the troubling results of this report, patients should be more concerned about hospitals refusing to disclose this information because frankness and transparency are the first step toward improvement."
This year's report is the first time that Leapfrog includes a volume metric for surgical procedures and whether hospitals are verifying whether surgery is needed.
Volume has long been considered one of the key parameters for predicting surgical success, although some studies suggest that the surgical specialty is a better predictor of positive outcomes. In 2015, a US News and World Report The consultant estimated that up to 11,000 deaths could have been avoided if patients traveling to hospitals at the lowest volumes were referred to hospitals with the highest volumes.
The number of patients is a key argument for proponents of need certificate laws, who note that an unregulated and unrestricted approach to the specialty care market dilutes the overall quality of care. "In reality, in the health care sector, especially when it comes to highly specialized care, such as transplants, NICU procedures or open-heart operations, the volume The procedure is critical to getting positive results for patients, "said John D. Couris, President and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, said in a recent opinion piece.
"Research continues to show that the more a hospital performs surgery or another procedure, the better the results, the better patient care and costs," Couris said. "High volume thresholds ensure mastery of physician skills, which reduces the number of medical errors."
Not surprisingly, the report also shows that urban hospitals routinely outperform rural hospitals in the eight high-risk procedures. No rural hospital has reached the Leapfrog volume standard for five of the eight procedures.
"No hospital and no surgeon should only do one or two of these procedures a year, the evidence is plentiful: it's not safe for patients," Binder said. "Sometimes protecting patients means helping patients find a better place to get surgery, which is not always easy, but it's the right thing to do."
This report is brought to you by HealthLeaders Media.
2019-07-21T16: 00: 00-0400
Source link
