Hospital Readmission as a Poor Measure of Quality in Ovarian Cancer Surgery

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of 30-day readmission rate as a quality of care metric in patients undergoing ovarian cancer surgery. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study of women diagnosed between 2004 and 2013 with advanced-stage, high-grade, serous carcinoma who underwent primary treatment. Using the National Cancer Database, we compared the performance of hospital risk-adjusted 30-day readmission rate to other quality of care metrics (risk-adjusted 30- and 90-day mortality, rates of adherence to guideline-based care, and overall survival) within hospitals categorized by yearly case volume (10 or less, 11-20, 21-30, and 31 cases per year or more). RESULTS: A total of 42,931 patients met the inclusion criteria. The overall unplanned 30-day readmission rate was 6.36% (95% CI 6.13-6.59). After adjusting for comorbidity, stage, histology, and sociodemographic and treatment factors, hospitals performing 31 cases per year or more had a 24% higher likelihood of readmission (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.25, 95% CI 1.06-1.46) when compared with those performing 10 cases per year or less. However, hospitals performing 31 cases per year or more had a significantly lower risk-adjusted 90-day mortality (adjusted OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.60-0.91) despite higher rates of complex surgical procedures and higher rates of guideline-concordant care delivery (86% vs 77%, P<.001). In the Cox proportional hazards regression model, care at a high-volume hospital was independently predictive of lower hazard of death (adjusted hazard ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.82-0.90). CONCLUSION: Hospitals with 31 cases per year or more have a lower 30- and 90-day mortality despite performing more complex surgeries, are more likely to be adherent to guideline-based care, and achieved higher overall survival.