Speaker: Ted McDonald, University of New Brunswick
Title: "Surgeon experience and surgical complications: applications of linked administrative health data"
Abstract: A substantial literature, primarily using US data, suggests a negative relationship between measures of surgical volume in hospitals and the probability of negative outcomes, including mortality and surgical complications. Estimated relationships vary by data source and methodology employed, and it is also uncertain whether these findings are applicable to Canadian contexts. Further, most of these studies cannot distinguish between the likely correlated dimensions of hospital volume and individual physician volume. This presentation will provide an overview of results from a series of studies that use linked administrative health data from NB to examine how measures of hospital volume and surgeon experience are related to patient adverse outcomes. The studies consider three types of surgeries: hip replacements, Caesarean sections, and colorectal surgeries. The results are relevant in considering the benefits and costs of centralizing surgical services away from smaller rural or regional health facilities.
Date: Friday, February 21 from 3:30-5:00pm