Surgeons who operate at multiple sites have higher 30-day readmission rates than those that only operate at one location, according to a Jan. 4 General Surgery News report.
Ava Ferguson Bryan, MD, of the University of Chicago, and colleagues analyzed Medicare data from patients who underwent surgeries including hip and knee replacements, prostatectomies and colectomies from 2011 to 2016.
Patients operated on by multisite surgeons saw an 8.78 percent 30-day readmission rate, while those with single-site surgeons saw an 8.66 percent rate. The performance gap widened over time, the report said, and patients with multisite surgeons saw higher 30-day readmission rates both in-system and out-of-system.
It is unknown whether there were clinical differences between the two groups, but researchers said the trend should be monitored to ensure consistency of care, according to the report.
