Here is a link to the medical journal article discussed in the newspaper column submitted here: "Surgical Skill and Complication Rates after Bariatric Surgery"

Here is a link to the medical journal article discussed in the newspaper column submitted here: "Surgical Skill and Complication Rates after Bariatric Surgery" John D. Birkmeyer, M.D., Jonathan F. Finks, M.D., Amanda O'Reilly, R.N., M.S., Mary Oerline, M.S., Arthur M. Carlin, M.D., Andre R. Nunn, M.D., Justin Dimick, M.D., M.P.H., Mousumi Banerjee, Ph.D., and Nancy J.O. Birkmeyer, Ph.D. for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative N Engl J Med 2013; 369:1434-1442 October 10, 2013 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMsa1300625 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1300625 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1300625 "Background "Clinical outcomes after many complex surgical procedures vary widely across hospitals and surgeons. Although it has been assumed that the proficiency of the operating surgeon is an important factor underlying such variation, empirical data are lacking on the relationships between technical skill and postoperative outcomes." My mother was a surgical nurse at my state's best teaching hospital. She once was able to line up the "all star team" when one of my near relatives needed surgery. When the best surgeon at the hospital operates with the best surgical resident at the hospital, assisted by the best anesthesiologist and the best team of surgical nurses (my mom, of course, did NOT join the surgery team, as it is just too tense to operate on a near relative) work together, the surgery outcomes are fine. Informal referrals like this work for patients who know someone who knows who the good surgeons are. For the long-term development of better patient outcomes, it will be important to have a data-gathering system that turns informal impressions of who does good work from anecdotes into carefully measured data that are shared with hospital administrators and residency program teachers and insurers and others who have power to nudge poor-performing surgeons either to improve their skills or change their areas of practice.