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Study measures quality differences between ASCs and hospital outpatient departments

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, January 15, 2008

A study titled "Comparative Study of Quality Outcomes in Freestanding Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Hospital-Based Outpatient Departments: 1997-2004" written by Askar S. Chukmaitov et al., shows that measuring the quality that ASCs give versus hospital outpatient departments (HOPD) is a difficult task, according to a January 7 article in Healthcare Economist.

Chukmaitov et al. used patient-level data in Florida from 1997 through 2004, but ran into what is known as selection bias. "The problem is that physicians may choose to conduct surgery on healthier patients at the ASC and perform the surgery on sicker patients in the HOPD. This way, if there are complications from surgery on a relatively sicker individual, the hospital will have more capabilities to deal with the situation," according to the article.

To read the Healthcare Economist article, click here.

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