The Adoption of Surgical Innovations at Academic Versus Nonacademic Health Centers
Heather L Yeo1, Rainu Kaushal, Lisa M Kern
1H.L. Yeo is assistant professor of surgery, Departments of Surgery and Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, and assistant attending surgeon, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York. R. Kaushal is chair, Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, executive director, Center for Healthcare Informatics and Policy, and Nanette Laitman Distinguished Professor of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York. She is also chief, Healthcare Policy and Research, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, New York. L.M. Kern is associate professor of medicine, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine, and associate professor of healthcare policy and research, Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York.
Purpose:
The value of the health care services provided by academic health centers (AHCs) in the United States increasingly is being questioned. AHCs play a prominent role in developing new surgical innovations, including new minimally invasive techniques, which are costly up front but can lead to significant benefits like decreased morbidity and lengths of stays. This study explored the role of AHCs in the adoption of these surgical innovations as a novel measure of their value.
Method:
The authors combined data from the American Hospital Association and the State Inpatient Databases from California, Florida, Washington State, and New York. They compared the number and percentage of patients who received four new, innovative surgical procedures (vs. those who received the traditional procedures) at Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH) hospitals to those at non-COTH hospitals from 2009 to 2011.
Results:
Overall, 61.1% (27,175) of the procedures performed at COTH hospitals used new techniques, compared with 47.2% (41,680) at non-COTH hospitals, across all years (P < .0001). The number and percentage of procedures using the new techniques increased in all years and for all procedures.
Conclusions:
Not only do AHCs play a role in developing surgical innovations but they also adopt these new techniques more quickly than other hospitals, and thereby they provide additional benefits to patients. These findings provide an important and understudied perspective on the value of AHCs.
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