We investigated the effects of hospital centralization on the distribution of the individual surgical patient risk in higher versus lower volume hospitals. Lung (n = 28,471) and bladder (n = 8,160) cancer surgical patients were selected from the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database, 1997-2011. Estimated patient risk was consistently lower in the highest compared to the lowest hospital volume-quartiles for lung and bladder cancer mortality, complications, and long length of stay. Although centralization has improved outcomes, lower volume hospitals continue to perform surgery on higher surgical risk patients compared to higher volume hospitals.
Keywords: Epidemiology and Outreach; Health Disparities; Hospital Access.