Are Teaching Hospitals Safer?

Are teaching hospitals safer or less safe than non-teaching hospitals? A 2004 study found patients that underwent complicated surgical procedures had better outcomes at teaching hospitals. A new study examining outcomes of patients undergoing cervical spine surgery found increased length of stay, costs, complication rates and mortality at teaching hospitals, with mortality being twice as high. However, after adjustment for comorbidities and complexity of the surgery, teaching hospitals were not a significant predictor of mortality. Teaching hospitals take care of predominantly sicker patients than non-teaching hospitals, and adjusting for this severity of illness is difficult when calculating mortality and complications rates.

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