SurgeonRatings Finds the Best Surgeons in Your Area
Choosing a surgeon is one of the most important decisions you have to make when you need surgery. SurgeonRatings uses government data on millions of cases over the past four years to find doctors whose surgeries have resulted in fewer deaths or complications.
According to the Consumers’ Checkbook (the nonprofit behind the site), the difference between the best performing and the worst surgeon is huge:
- For heart valve surgeries and bypass grafts, one-tenth of the best performing surgeons had a mortality rate of less than 3 percent in hospital or within 90 days after discharge, compared with a mortality rate of over 11 percent for patients in the first group. one-tenth of surgeons perform worst of all.
- Likewise, in major colon and small bowel surgeries, mortality rates ranged from less than 6 percent for the one-tenth best performing surgeons to over 20 percent for the one-tenth with the worst performing surgeons.
- For total hip and knee arthroplasty, where deaths are rare, one-tenth of the best performing surgeons have an overall adverse outcome rate (deaths, complications, and hospital readmission) of less than 8 percent, and one-tenth the worst performing surgeons. the overall rate of adverse outcomes was over 21 percent.
On the site you can find ratings of surgeons for 14 types of major surgeries, including hip and knee replacements. Unlike the previously mentioned surgeon scorecard , the results are adjusted for some surgeons who treat more complex cases (depending on the patient’s age and / or health status).
After entering the zip code and choosing the type of surgery, the list will show you: whether the surgeon was recommended by other doctors during the survey, the doctors’ commission certificates and their hospital affiliation (including whether the hospital has high marks for the outcome of this type of surgery). In the Best Results column, 4 or 5 stars indicate that the researchers are confident or very confident that the surgeon’s results are above average for the best results. 3 stars means they are less confident.
This alone will not help you choose the best surgeon, but it is a good start.