Hospital Volume and the Costs Associated with Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer

Data evaluating the financial implications of volume-based referral are lacking. This study sought to compare in-hospital costs for pancreatic surgery by annual hospital volume.

Eleven thousand and eighty-one patients aged ≥18 years undergoing an elective pancreatic resection for cancer were identified using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 2002–2011. Multivariable regression analysis was performed to compare length-of-stay (LOS), postoperative morbidity and mortality, failure-to-rescue (FTR), and inpatient costs by annual hospital volume group.

Patients undergoing surgery at high-volume hospitals (HVH) demonstrated 23% lower odds (odds ratio [OR] = 0.77, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.63–0.95) of developing a postoperative complication, 59% lower odds of experiencing an LOS > 14 days (OR = 0.41, 95%CI 0.34–0.50), 51% lower odds of postoperative mortality (OR = 0.49, 95%CI 0.34–0.71), and 47% lower odds of FTR (OR = 0.53, 95%CI 0.37–0.76; all p<0.05). The overall mean in-hospital cost was $39,012 (SD = $15,214) with minimal differences observed across hospital volume groups. Rather, postoperative complications (no complication vs. complication $26,686 [SD = $5762] vs. $44,633 [SD = $11,637]) and FTR (rescue vs. FTR $42,413 [SD = $8481] vs. $69,546 [SD = $13,131]) were determinant of higher in-hospital costs. While this pattern was observed at all hospital volume groups, costs varied minimally between hospital volume groups after this stratification.

Annual hospital surgical volume was not associated with in-hospital costs among patients undergoing pancreatic surgery.