Website for comparing surgeons launched

To help patients find the right physicians, non-profit news organization ProPublica launched Surgeon Scorecard, an online tool containing data on nearly 17,000 surgeons’ complication rates for several elective surgical procedures based on Medicare billing records.

The complication rates are based on hospital readmissions within 30 days of the surgery and death. The procedures reported in the tool are gall bladder removal, hip replacement, knee replacement, prostate removal, prostate resection, and three types of spinal fusion performed between 2009 and 2013. These procedures were selected because they were considered relatively low risk and are typically performed on healthy patients, according to ProPublica.    

Source: ProPublica