The cutaneous surgery experience of multiple specialties in the Medicare population - 21/08/11
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Tucson, Arizona
Abstract |
Background |
There has been tremendous growth in the performance of ambulatory surgical procedures. Traditional forms of peer review, commonplace for hospital-based procedures, are not typically performed in the office-based setting. Hospital credentialing of physicians has been suggested to be a means of assuring patient safety. Credentialing committees may be unaware of the level of experience of typical office-based physicians who perform cutaneous surgery.
Purpose |
To compare the levels of cutaneous surgery experience of dermatologists and other surgical specialists.
Methods |
Medicare claims data on number of cutaneous surgery procedures performed by various medical disciplines, including dermatologists, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, and others, were obtained from the 1998-1999 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and analyzed. The number of physicians in each specialty was used to normalize the data to a per physician basis.
Results |
Dermatologists performed half (50%) of the complex repairs and most of the excisions (58%) and intermediate repairs (62%). Dermatologists performed more flaps (40% of all flaps) than any other specialty, while plastic surgeons performed more total grafts (38%) than any other specialty. Dermatologists and plastic surgeons performed similar numbers of full-thickness skin grafts, while plastic surgeons performed more split-thickness skin grafts.
Conclusion |
As dermatologists seek hospital credentials for performing cutaneous surgery procedures, these data should help surgical colleagues understand the typical level of experience of their dermatologist colleagues.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Plan
The Center for Dermatology Research was funded by a grant from Galderma Laboratories, LP. Dr Williford received grant support from the ASDS. Drs Feldman and Fleischer have received grant support from Bristol-Myers Squibb and from Galderma Laboratories, LP. |
Vol 52 - N° 6
P. 1045-1048 - juin 2005 Retour au numéroBienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
L’accès au texte intégral de cet article nécessite un abonnement.
Déjà abonné à cette revue ?