Relationship between bariatric surgery outcomes and Medicare expenditures

Editor's Note

Medicare payments for bariatric surgery are significantly lower at hospitals with low complication rates, and cost savings are most prominent in patients at highest risk for complications, this study finds.

The analysis of 38,374 bariatric surgery patients found a strong correlation between complication rates and episode payments−hospitals in the lowest quintile of complication rates had payments $1,321 lower per patient than those in the highest quintile.

Cost savings were more prominent in high-risk patients−a difference of $2,160 per patient between lowest and highest quintile hospitals.

Hospitals with the lowest complication rates also had lower costs for index hospitalization, readmissions, physician services, and postdischarge ancillary care than hospitals with the highest complication rates.

The findings suggest that efforts to improve bariatric surgical quality may ultimately reduce costs, the authors say.

Objective: To examine the relationship between hospital outcomes and expenditures in patients undergoing bariatric surgery in the United States. Background: As one of the most common surgical procedures in the United States, bariatric surgery is a major focus of policy reforms aimed at reducing ...