title: Volume-outcome relationships in neurosurgery.
abstract: For a variety of neurosurgical conditions, increasing surgeon and hospital volumes correlate with improved outcomes, such as mortality, complication rates, length of stay, hospital charges, and discharge disposition. Neurosurgeons can improve patient outcomes at the population level by changing practice and referral patterns to regionalize care for select conditions at high-volume specialty treatment centers. Individual practitioners should be aware of where they fall on the volume spectrum and understand the implications of their practice and referral habits on their patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.affiliation: Oregon Health Sciences University, School of Medicine, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
authors.forename: Alp
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozpinar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Electronic address: lawtonm@neurosurg.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Lawton
mesh_terms: D061847:Hospitals, High-Volume; D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000401:mortality / Q000592:standards*; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment
keywords: Neurosurgery; Outcomes; Surgery; Volume