• Anaeze C Offodile, Yu-Li Lin, Shivani A Shah, Stephen G Swisher, Amit Jain, Charles E Butler, and Oluseyi Aliu.
• Department of Plastic Surgery.
• Ann. Surg. 2023 Apr 1; 277 (4): 535541535-541.

ObjectiveTo determine if global budget revenue (GBR) models incent the centralization of complex surgical care.Summary BackgroundIn 2014, Maryland initiated a statewide GBR model. While prior research has shown improvements in cost and outcomes for surgical care post-GBR implementation, the mechanism remains unclear.MethodsUtilizing state inpatient databases, we compared the proportion of adults undergoing elective complex surgeries (gastrectomy, pneumonectomy/lobectomy, proctectomies, and hip/knee revision) at high-concentration hospitals (HCHs) in Maryland and control states. Annual concentration, per procedure, was defined as hospital volume divided by state volume. HCHs were defined as hospitals with a concentration at least at the 75 th percentile in 2010. We estimated the difference-in-differences (DiD) of the probability of patients undergoing surgery at HCHs before and after GBR implementation.FindingsOur sample included 122,882 surgeries. Following GBR implementation, all procedures were increasingly performed at HCHs in Maryland. States satisfied the parallel trends assumption for the centralization of gastrectomy and pneumonectomy/lobectomy. Post-GBR, patients were more likely to undergo gastrectomy (DiD: 5.5 p.p., 95% CI [2.2, 8.8]) and pneumonectomy/lobectomy (DiD: 12.4 p.p., 95% CI [10.0, 14.8]) at an HCH in Maryland compared with control states. For our hip/knee revision analyses, we assumed persistent counterfactuals and noted a positive DiD post-GBR implementation (DiD: 4.8 p.p., 95% CI [1.3, 8.2]). No conclusion could be drawn for proctectomy due to different pre-GBR trends.ConclusionsGBR implementation is associated with increased centralization for certain complex surgeries. Future research is needed to explore the impact of centralization on patient experience and access.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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