title: What defines a high-volume hip or knee surgeon in the United States?
abstract: The literature suggests that high-volume hip and knee surgeons have better patient outcomes. Therefore, clearly defining a high-volume or a low-volume surgeon is important. The definition of high-volume has been quite arbitrary, and numbers such as 50 surgeries per year have been used to define high-volume. The objective of this study was to show that, on the basis of data contained in the National Inpatient Sample database, using the quartile approach will quantify the increasing number of surgeries required per year to remain a high-volume joint surgeon. Using quartiles may provide a more consistent way to define what is meant by a low- or high-volume surgeon in the United States, and a clear definition of quartiles will aid future studies seeking to determine whether outcomes can be correlated with quartiles.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takemoto
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Vail
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Houman
authors.forename: C Lowry
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Barnes
mesh_terms: D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012086:Reoperation; D014481:United States