title: Volume- or outcome-based referral to improve quality of care for esophageal cancer surgery in The Netherlands.
abstract: Recently, in The Netherlands esophageal resections for cancer are banned from hospitals with an annual volume less than 10. In this study we evaluate the validity of this specific volume cut-off, based on a review of the literature and an analysis of the available data on esophagectomies in our country. In addition, we compare the expected benefits of volume-based referral to the results of a regional centralization process based on differences in outcome (outcome-based referral).
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. m.w.j.m.wouters@lumc.nl
authors.forename: M W J M
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Wouters
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Krijnen
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Le Cessie
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Gooiker
authors.forename: O R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Guicherit
authors.forename: A W K S
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kievit
authors.forename: R A E M
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Tollenaar
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking / Q000379:methods; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D016629:Esophagectomy / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D016526:Workload