title: Marginal complications and healthcare costs.
abstract: In a recent study published in JAMA, the authors concluded that hospitals might have financial disincentives for reducing surgical complications. The study confirms some well-known healthcare financial management realities: Some procedures are more profitable than others, and sometimes complications generate positive returns for hospitals. But the study was flawed.
authors.affiliation: The Geisel School of Medicine, Hanover, NH, USA. wbw@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Weeks
mesh_terms: D017047:Cost Sharing; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000191:economics*