A study, published in Health Services Insights, examined the difference in 7-day and 30-day hospitalization rates concerning outpatient surgical procedures at office-based surgery suites, ASCs and hospital outpatient departments.
Robert Ohsfeldt, PhD, of College Station-based Texas A&M University, and colleagues conducted a multivariable logistic regression to compare risk-adjusted probability of hospitalization. Researchers examined 88 procedures performed between 2008 and 2012 in Florida.
Researchers found that risk-adjusted hospitalization rates were higher for procedures performed at physicians offices, compared to ASCs.
Across all 88 procedures, 7-day hospitalization rates were two times higher for procedures performed in an office-based center than in an ASC. Thirty-day hospitalization rates for procedures performed in an office suite were 34 percent higher than when performed in an ASC.
Risk-adjusted 7-day hospitalization rates for office-based procedures was greater for 30 of 71 individual CPT codes models. When considering 30-days rates, hospitalization risk was greater for 27 of 71 individual CPT code models.
The largest specific significant difference in outcomes between an office-based center and an ASC concerned tissue remove for graft. In an office setting, the 7-day post surgery hospitalization rate was 12 times greater, than if the procedure was performed in an ASC. Considering 30-day rates, the risk was 11 times higher in an office-based setting than when performed in an ASC.
Researchers said, "The rate of admission to an inpatient hospital within seven days of outpatient surgery was 9.08 per 1,000 outpatient procedures at physicians' offices, 8.41 per 1,000 outpatient procedures at ASCs and 21 per 1,000 outpatient procedures at HOPDs."