3 ms·
This was shocking to read: > The data appear to back Shetty up. In part because its huge volumes help surgeons quickly develop proficiency, the chain’s mortali
by jonathanyc 8y ago
This was shocking to read:
> The data appear to back Shetty up. In part because its huge volumes help surgeons quickly develop proficiency, the chain’s mortality rates are comparable to or lower than those in the developed world, at least for some procedures. About 1.4 percent of Narayana patients die within 30 days following a heart bypass, according to the Commonwealth Fund, which studies public health, compared with 1.9 percent in the U.S. Narayana also outperforms Western systems in results for valve replacements and heart-attack treatment, the group found.
I’d always heard that although the US’s healthcare is the most expensive, it also has the best outcome for specialist care. But the fact that this hospital outperforms the US while charging a fiftieth as much makes me wonder how much better the specialist care could be outside of the US given the same resources.
- mandevil 8y agoOne of the most interesting discoveries in US medicine is that there is essentially no relationship between cost and outcomes- even within the US. The Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care has shown that there are wide price disparities within the US (and not necessarily in predictable ways, e.g. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/06/01/the-cost-conundrum https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/06/01/the-cost-conun... ) and that they don't correlate with improved outcomes. To some extent, prices are a random walk that is orthogonal to a different random walk that is 'quality.' Then again, repetition helps. People who do more procedures generally get better results. In colonoscopies, studies show that the fastest doctors also have the lowest false positive/negative rates, because the way you get fast and the way you get good is to do it again and again.