Effect of hospital competition, financial status on robot use

Editor's Note

Patients treated at hospitals located in competitive regional markets were more likely to have robotic-assisted surgical procedures, this study finds.

However, when the analysis was limited just to hospitals that performed robotic-assisted surgery, competition was no longer associated with the use of robotic technology. In addition, hospital financial status had only a limited association with use of the robot.

This analysis by researchers from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City included nearly 222,000 patients who had radical prostatectomy, total nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, hysterectomy, or oophorectomy at 1,370 hospitals in the US from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011.

Importance Despite the lack of efficacy data, robotic-assisted surgery has diffused rapidly into practice. Marketing to physicians, hospitals, and patients has been widespread, but how this marketing has contributed to the diffusion of the technology remains unknown. Objective To examine the effect of regional hospital competition and hospital financial status on the use of robotic-assisted surgery for 5 commonly performed procedures.