Quantity and quality relationships in cardiovascular medicine.
Hospital volume and often also operator volume have documented impacts on the quality of care for aortic and aortocoronary bypass surgery, for percutaneous angioplasty and for radiofrequency ablation for arrhythmias, whereas data are less consistent for treatment of acute myocardial infarction. A review of this research is given. In the Nordic countries hospitals are small, and often the plateau of the learning curve cannot be reached. To discourage low-volume centers from embarking upon too complicated interventional or surgical procedures, the author suggests that a minimal number should be set for certain major procedures, both for hospitals and for physicians.
Gjesdal
K
K
Cardiology Department, Oslo University Hospital Ullevål, Norway.
D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012537:Scandinavian and Nordic Countries