Effect of hospital safety-net burden on surgical costs, outcomes

Editor's Note

In this study on the effect of patient and hospital factors on surgical outcomes and costs at safety-net hospitals, researchers found that hospital resources and not necessarily patient factors lead to inferior outcomes and increased costs.

Hospital Compare data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website suggest that safety-net hospitals provide less efficient care that may be a result of inferior staffing or disorganized systems.

Safety-net hospitals provide broad services for a vulnerable patient population and are financially at risk now because of impending reimbursement penalties and policy changes, the authors say.

Importance Safety-net hospitals provide broad services for a vulnerable population of patients and are financially at risk owing to impending reimbursement penalties and policy changes. Objective To determine the effect of patient and hospital factors on surgical outcomes and cost at safety-net hospitals.