A study, in The Journal of Arthroplasty, examined whether high-volume joint replacement hospitals performed better than low-volume centers under CMS' quality metrics.
Rachel Sibley of New York City-based NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, and colleagues analyzed data from 123 hospitals which participated in all of Medicare's pay-for-performance programs.
Here's what they found:
1. From 2013-2015, hospitals in New York performed 1,136.59 total joint replacement surgeries on average.
2. Those hospitals had a mean readmission penalty of 0.005909.
3. Researchers established a correlation coefficient between volume and combined performance of 0.277.
Researchers concluded, "Our study demonstrates that there is a positive association between joint replacement volumes and overall hospital quality, as well as joint replacement volumes and VBP performance, specifically."
They added the findings are consistent with past findings. The researchers were unable to find a relationship between volume and HAC scores or readmission penalties.