ACS comments on surgeon rating websites

Editor's Note

The AmericanCollege of Surgeons calls the usefulness of surgeon rating systems released last week by two public interest group websites questionable.

The groups use differing methodologies (ie, years of Medicare data reviewed, procedures studied, and rating scales used) to determine their rankings, and a patient visiting both sites could find the same surgeon rated very differently or not rated at all.

“Use of clinically validated data would have more fully taken into account the severity of the patient’s condition when assessing surgeon performance,” the ACS says.

The American College of Surgeons comments on two public websites released the week of July 13, 2015, that provide rating systems for individual surgeons. NEWS FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CHICAGO (July 22, 2015): The American College of Surgeons strongly believes that patients and their families deserve to have meaningful information available to assist them in selecting the right surgeon.