The Effects of Regionalization on Cost and Outcome for One General High-Risk Surgical Procedure

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Abstract
The effects of regionalization of tertiary care were studied by analyzing cost and outcome for pancreaticoduodenectomies in a state in which the majority of these high-risk procedures were performed in one hospital. Using Maryland inpatient discharge data via a retrospective study, the authors compared cost and outcome data for a hospital with more than one half of the cases in the state to all other hospital providers as a group and with smaller groupings according to the volume of procedures performed. Hospital mortality, length of stay, and costs were significantly less at the high-volume regional medical center when compared with all other hospitals. Mortality and cost increased as volume decreased when hospitals were grouped according to volume. An academic medical center, functioning as a high-volume regional provider, can deliver tertiary care services with improved outcomes at lower costs than community hospitals.