Search is Powered by Google
Public Health News

Publishing surgeons' performance remains controversial, British Medical Journal

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 20 Aug 2004 - 10:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article
Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:not yet rated

Health Professional:not yet rated

Article Opinions: 0 posts

Later this year, the performance of individual surgeons in the UK will be made publicly available, but the move remains controversial. Researchers in this week's BMJ discuss the issues in relation to cardiothoracic surgery.

The inquiry into cardiac deaths at Bristol Royal Infirmary recommended that patients must be able to obtain information on the performance of hospitals and individual surgeons. Since then, cardiothoracic surgeons have been voluntarily submitting figures for publication.

But the arguments for and against publication are finely balanced. Cardiac surgeons in the United States, where public reporting already exists, believe that the system is unfair, as the performance of a surgeon is highly dependent on his or her institution. It may also encourage surgeons to protect their results by avoiding high-risk patients.

The value of such publications also depends on whether the outcome usefully reflects quality of care, the ability to cater for differences in casemix, and whether the publication is designed to facilitate patient choice or show consistency of standards.

In the UK, surgeons have collected simple activity and mortality data for each surgeon for some years. The data is not detailed enough to cater for variations in casemix, so the surgeons have agreed for their results to be compared against statistically derived standards without compensation for casemix. Each surgeon will be measured to see whether or not they meet the agreed standard.

When these results are published later this year, medicine in the United Kingdom will have crossed a threshold into a new era, say the authors. This system is not perfect, but it is a first step towards transparent public accountability.

(The legacy of Bristol: public disclosure of individual surgeons' results)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/329/7463/450

Contacts:

Bruce Keogh, President Elect, Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland,
Royal College of Surgeons of England, London, UK
Email: Bruce.Keogh@uclh.org

James Roxburgh, Secretary, Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland,
Royal College of Surgeons of England, London, UK
Email: James.Roxburgh@gstt.sthames.nhs.uk




Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Opioid Induced Constipation ADHD Anxiety Asthma Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles All 'How To...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
Map Of H1N1 Swine Flu Outbreaks To-Date
09 Jun 2009
Featured below is an interactive Google map pinpointing outbreaks of H1N1 swine flu in 2009, together with source attributions, report dates, and current known statuses. This map is updated throughout the day with the...


Tanning image Tanning

Tanning Questions...

Leg Cramps image Leg Cramps

Questions and answers about leg cramps...

View more videos...