JAMA Surgery published a study finding more costly care for postoperative complications is linked with worse patient outcomes, according to Medscape.
In the study, researchers evaluated Medicare payments for patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colectomy for cancer, pulmonary resection and total hip replacement.
Then, the researchers compared these payments to patients undergoing these procedures without complications, patients who died from their complications and those who survived complications. Analyzed payments spanned from the day of admission through 30 days post-discharge.
Here are eight takeaways:
1. As anticipated, researchers found payments were higher for patients with complications than those without. They also found patients who survived complications had higher average payments compared to those who died following complications.
2. Readmissions and post-acute care drove escalated costs for survivors of complications.
3. For patients suffering from surgical complications, payments at the highest-cost hospitals were nearly two- to threefold higher than those at the lowest-cost hospitals across all four conditions.
4. For abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, the mean cost was $60,456 for the high-cost-of-rescue hospitals, compared to $23,261 for the low-cost-of-rescue hospitals.
6. A colectomy cost $56,787 at a high-cost hospital for patients with complications compared to $22,853 at a low-cost hospital. Total hip replacement patients with complications costs were $41,354 at a high-cost hospital and $19,028 at a low-cost hospital.
7. For patients with complications following a pulmonary resection, their cost averaged $63,117 at a high-cost hospital, compared to $21,325 at a low-cost hospital.
8. Despite this stark payment difference, high-cost hospitals did not yield better patient outcomes. High-cost hospitals for rescuing patients with surgical complications compared with the hospitals that received the lowest rescue-associated payments.
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