HEMIARTHROPLASTY IN HIP FRACTURE CARE - EFFECTS OF SURGICAL VOLUME ONSHORT-TERM OUTCOME

In 1992, the Agency of Health Care Administration in Tallahassee, Flor ida started releasing, as part of the discharge information, the names of the treating physician along with the clinical data. This informat ion was used to assess the effects of volume on the short-term outcome of hemiarthroplasty surgery in hip fracture care as a function of sur geons and hospitals in the state of Florida, during the year 1992. A t otal of 5,604 cases were available for study. Analysis of the data sho wed that the average inhospital mortality rate was 4.3%. The average l ength of stay was 11.2 days. After arbitrarily dividing the doctors in to three case volume groups (low, medium, high), results showed that s urgeons with a low volume of arthroplasty cases (less than 10 per year ) had a statistically significant higher average length of stay and in hospital charges when compared with the other two case volume groups.