Urbach and colleagues tested the hypothesis that patients undergoing complex procedures fare better at hospitals that perform such procedures frequently by collecting data concerning 31 632 people who underwent 1 of 5 different surgical procedures. The authors compared the results of these procedures (2 with high and 3 with low operative mortality) at Ontario hospitals with higher and lower operative frequency.
"There may be good reasons for volume-based regionalization of certain complex surgical procedures," state the authors. "However, the perception that the main benefit of regionalization is a substantial reduction in postoperative mortality may be erroneous."
------ p. 1409 Differences in operative mortality between high- and low-volume hospitals in Ontario for 5 major surgical procedures: estimating the number of lives potentially saved through regionalization -- D.R Urbach et al
Canadian Medical Association Journal