Nonprofit Consumer Group??Releases??First???Ever??and??Only??Nationwide Ratings??of??Surgeons??for??Patient??Outcomes,?? Based??on??Government??Data??Previously??Kept??from??the??Public
New??Website??Shows??that??Similar??Patients??Have??Three??Times??the??Risk??of??Death??or other Bad Outcomes with Some Surgeons Compared to Other Surgeons.
WASHINGTON???Preventable??medical??errors??of??various??kinds??kill??at??least??200,000??Americans??each??year,
making??this??the??third??leading??cause??of??death??in??the??United??States,??six??times??as??many??deaths??as??from??auto
accidents.??One??way??to??reduce??such??errors??is??for??consumers??to??choose??the??best??surgeons.??For??the??first
time??ever,??consumers??across??the??U.S.??today??have??access??to??ratings??of??individual??surgeons??based??on
outcomes???how??often??their??patients??die??in??hospital??or??within??90??days??of??hospital??discharge,??have??serious
complications??in??hospital,??or??need??to??be??readmitted??to??a??hospital??within??90??days??of??discharge.
The??ratings??were??just??released??by??the??nonprofit??Consumers?????Checkbook/Center??for??the??Study??of??Services
and??are??available??at??no??cost??to??consumers??at??www.surgeonratings.org,??giving??consumers??a??way??to??find
surgeons??likely??to??have??the??best??results.
These??ratings??are??based??on??analysis??of??detailed??federal??government??records,??previously??not??made publicly??available,??that??Consumers?????Checkbook??was??finally??able??to??obtain??from??the??government??after
years??of??pushing??and??suing??the??government??for??release.??These??are??records??of??more??than??four??million
major??surgeries??done??by??more??than??50,000??doctors.??Checkbook??undertook??this??project??with??a??goal??of
greatly??reducing??patients?????risks??of??bad??outcomes??from??major??surgeries.
The??new??website??compares??surgeons??for??14??of??the??most??important??and??high???risk??types??of??surgery,
including??heart??valve??and??bypass??surgery,??various??types??of??vascular??surgery,??major??bowel??surgery,??spine
surgery,??pulmonary??surgery,??and??total??knee??and??hip??replacement.??The??website??identifies??surgeons??with
better???than???average??performance.??There??is??strong??evidence??in??medical??literature??that??surgeons??with
better??results??use??better??techniques??and??make??sure??their??patients??get??better??overall??care??and??follow???up
in??hospital??and??after??release.
For??the??new??website,??surgeons?????results??are??adjusted??to??take??into??account??how??frail??or??sick??their??patients
were.??Even??after??this??adjustment,??results??vary??dramatically??from??surgeon??to??surgeon.??For??example????? Forheartvalve??and??bypass??surgery,??the??patients??of??the??best???performing??one???tenth??of??surgeons had??death??rates??of??less??than??3??percent??in???hospital??or??within??90??days??of??discharge,??compared??to death??rates??of??more??than??11??percent??for??patients??of??the??worst???performing??one???tenth??of??surgeons.
The??average??surgeon??Checkbook??evaluated??had??about??a??6??percent??death??rate??with??these
surgeries.??
