Variation in the Care of Surgical Conditions

<h2>Overview</h2>
<p>The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice (TDI) has created a publicly available source of data that provides researchers, payers, regulators, and innovators with metrics that quantify temporal and regional patterns of health care spending and utilization in the United States. Using CMS Medicare claims data (mostly for age >64 enrollees), Atlas researchers built cohorts (“denominators”) and numerous measures or events (“numerators”) which were then used to calculate rates by geography. These rates, which are calculated consistently across time and place, provide researchers with opportunities to evaluate spatial and temporal variation/trends. </p>

<p>This entry contains Dartmouth Atlas rates related to the care of conditions for which surgery is one important treatment option. The specific conditions examined are obesity; cerebral aneurysm; diabetes and peripheral arterial disease; spinal stenosis; end-stage renal disease; and prostate cancer. The years and types of rates provided vary across these six conditions. Examples of rates include the rate at which specific types of surgeries are performed, post-surgery readmission rates, and re-intervention-free survival rates. Rates are provided at the hospital referral region (HRR) level. Where appropriate, rates have been adjusted for age, sex, and race. For diabetes and peripheral arterial disease, both overall rates and race-stratified rates (black and non-black) are provided.</p>

<p> Users downloading data should review the methods sections of the related publications for context. All reports in the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care series are available from the National Library of Medicine <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK584737/"> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK584737/ </a>
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