Variation in Surgical Procedures
Data used in this report
Inpatient procedure rates per 1,000 Medicare enrollees were calculated for the following procedures and averaged for the period 2008-10 at the hospital service area (HSA) level. An HSA is a grouping of ZIP codes whose residents receive most of their hospitalizations from the hospitals in that area. The 19 HSAs presented in figures and tables contain one or more of the 23 hospitals studied. Each rate includes the procedures performed at all of the hospitals in the area and not necessarily at only one hospital. Nevertheless, it is likely that the academic hospital(s) lead each region's practice pattern.
- Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)
- Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)
- Hip Replacement
- Knee Replacement
- Back Surgery
- Carotid Endarterectomy
- Lower Extremity Bypass
- Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP) for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)
- Radical Prostatectomy
- Cholecystectomy
- Mastectomy for Cancer
All of these rates were adjusted for age, race, and sex (when appropriate) using the U.S. Medicare population as the standard. TURP and radical prostatectomy were restricted to males. Mastectomy was restricted to females.