Cardiovascular surgery patients at low-volume hospitals are 57 percent more likely to die from failure to rescue after a major postoperative complication than the same patients at high-volume hospitals, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery.
Using patient data from approximately 120,000 Medicare beneficiaries undergoing heart surgery, researchers examined whether increased mortality at lower-volume hospitals was more attributable to higher rates of postoperative complications or higher rates of failure to rescue.
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While a patient was 12 percent more likely to have a major postoperative complication at the lowest-volume hospitals than at the highest-volume hospitals, the patient was much more likely to die if a complication occurred.
The study suggests hospitals should strive to include failure-to-rescue interventions in improving surgical outcomes.
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