Highest-Volume Hospitals Linked with Lower Risk for Some Procedures

An estimated 11,000 deaths could have been prevented between 2010 and 2012, if patients who went to the U.S. hospitals with the lowest patient volumes for five common procedures and conditions had gone instead to the highest-volume hospitals, according to analysis presented in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Hospitals for Common Care.”¹

For example, one small rural hospital’s relative risk for death from elective knee replacement was 24 times the national average.”¹

Reference

1. Sternberg S, Dougherty G. Risks are high at low-volume hospitals. May 18, 2015. U.S. News & World Report. Accessed July 2, 2015.