The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Dec 2011
Inefficiency as the major driver of excess costs in lung resection.
Risk-adjusted outcomes of surgical care are important for quality and cost assessments. Although cardiac surgery is commonly studied, risk-adjusted analysis of excess costs of lung resection has not been pursued. ⋯ Inefficiency is the major factor in excess inpatient costs associated with lung resection in this model. Although refinements in databases, including total physician costs and postdischarge adverse event costs, will alter models, excess costs of lung resection appear to be driven by inefficiency, not adverse outcomes.