The Dartmouth Atlas Project is releasing a series of nine regional reports that show variation in elective procedures among Medicare patients from 2008 to 2010. For example, Medicare patients in Casper, Wyo., were more than seven times more likely to undergo back surgery than patients in Honolulu, Hawaii, according to the news release.
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The following elective procedures are included in the report:
• Mastectomy for breast cancer
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Percutaneous coronary intervention
• Back surgery
• Knee replacement
• Hip replacement
• Carotid endarterectomy
• Cholecystectomy
• Transurethral resection of the prostate
• Prostate cancer screening
• Radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer
The researchers suggested that the variation in elective procedures by region reveals a lack of shared decision making between patient and provider.
“These variations reflect real problems in how medical decisions are made. Elective surgery presents choices that should be based as much on an individual’s preferences and circumstances as the clinician’s judgment and experience,” said John R. Lumpkin, MD, MPH, director of the Health Care Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in the release.
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