Operation Rates, Mortality Statistics and the Quality of Life

Abstract

The quality of surgical care remains unmeasured. We are not yet even certain how to define the quality of care, let alone how to measure it. But we do know that there are large quantitative differences in the surgical care received by different populations, and it is reasonable to assume, a priori, that there are also differences in quality.Operation rates in the United States are double those in England and Wales.¹ Residents in some geographic areas of Kansas are two, three and four times more likely to undergo elective surgery than residents of other areas in the same state. . . .