Most hospitals do not meet The Leapfrog Group's surgical volume standards, which outline the minimum number of surgeries a hospital must report annually to limit the risk of patient harm, according to the group's 2019 Inpatient Surgery Report.
The report is based on data submitted by more than 2,000 hospitals for Leapfrog's 2018 hospital survey. Leapfrog assessed hospitals' compliance to its surgical volume standards for the following high-risk procedures:
- Bariatric surgery for weight loss
- Carotid endarterectomy
- Esophageal resection for cancer
- Lung resection for cancer
- Mitral valve repair and replacement
- Open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair
- Pancreatic resection for cancer
- Rectal cancer surgery
Leapfrog found hospitals were most likely to meet full volume standards for bariatric surgery. However, compliance was still low at 38 percent. Hospitals had the lowest compliance for open abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs at 2.5 percent.
Urban hospitals also outperformed rural hospitals in meeting surgical volume standards for all eight procedures.
To view the full report, click here.