Annuals of Surgery

Hospital quality and the cost of inpatient surgery in the United States.

Annuals of Surgery
Birkmeyer JD, Gust C , Dimick JB, Birkmeyer NJ, Skinner JS

Payers, policy makers, and professional organizations have launched a variety of initiatives aimed at improving hospital quality with inpatient surgery. Despite their obvious benefits for patients, the likely impact of these efforts on health care costs is uncertain. In this context, we examined relationships between hospital outcomes and expenditures in the US Medicare population.