Impact of processes of care aimed at complication reduction on the cost of complex XXXX surgery.

@entity5 @entity1
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Health care providers add multiple processes to the care of complex @entity5 @entity1 , believing they prevent and/or ameliorate complications. However, the relationship between these processes, complication remediation, and expenditures is unknown. METHODS: Data for @entity1 with @entity5 diagnoses undergoing colectomy, rectal resection, pulmonary lobectomy, pneumonectomy, esophagectomy, and pancreatic resection were obtained from hospital and inpatient physician Medicare claims for the years 2005-2009. Risk-adjusted regression analyses measured the association between hospitalization costs and processes presumed to prevent and/or remedy complications common to high-risk procedures. RESULTS: After controlling for comorbidities, analysis identified associations between increased costs and use of multiple processes, including arterial lines (4-12% higher; P   <   0.001) and pulmonary artery catheters (23-33% higher; P   <   0.001). Epidural analgesia was not associated with higher costs. Consultations were associated with 24-44% (P   <   0.001) higher costs, and total parenteral nutrition was associated with 13-31% higher costs (P   <   0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Many frequently utilized processes and services presumed to avoid and/or ameliorate complications are associated with increased surgical oncology costs. This suggests that the @entity1 -centered value of each process should be measured on a procedure-specific basis. Likewise, further attention should be focused on defining the efficacy of each of these costly, but frequently unproven, additions to perioperative care. J. Surg. Oncol. 2015;112:610-615.    2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
