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well-meaning, is flawed. Take readmissions, for
example. They don't always arise from surgical
complications and they're often not a result of
a surgeon's skill.
In a recent Forbes article, urologic oncologist
Benjamin Davies, MD, the chief of urology at
UPMC Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, writes:
"Patients will use this product to guide their choice of surgeons, I sus-
pect. But what if the real endpoints are not being measured here?"
With prostate cancer surgery, Dr. Davies says 3 goals rise above all
else: cancer removal, erectile function and urinary continence. "Those
are the principal reasons you want a good surgeon to do your surgery.
Are these issues measured? No. Would you trade a bad bout of constipa-
tion for an erection? I would. Would you trade an ileus for prostate can-
cer remission?"
Surgeon report cards are not a new idea. The American College of
Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-
NSQIP) has been issuing report cards on the quality of surgical care
since the early 2000s. But it's senseless to use such a narrow band of
statistical outcomes to measure a doctor's true skills.
• • •
At 16 pages, "Breaking Bad," a gripping first-person account of how
thin the line between right and wrong can be in life and in business, is
by far the longest story this magazine has ever run. It's also one of the
most compelling pieces we've ever published. Beginning on page 24,
you'll find the story of David Applegate, a former surgical device mar-
keting executive who got swept up in a massive accounting fraud. Mr.
Applegate wrote it from federal prison, where he's serving a 5-year
sentence. OSM
InstaPoll
Do
you believe that an eye
drop can dissolve cataracts?
yes 43%
no 26%
unsure 31%
SOURCE: Outpatient Surgery
Magazine InstaPoll, July 2015,
n=179
