Figure 2. Hospital Volume and Surgical Mortality

The highest-volume hospitals had surgical mortality rates of 4% for pancreatic resection, 8% for esophagectomy, and 11.6% for mitral valve replacement; the lowest-volume hospitals had surgical mortality rates of 16% for pancreatic resection, 20% for esophagectomy, and 15.1% for mitral valve replacement.

Source: Adapted from Birkmeyer, Siewers, Finlayson, et al. Hospital volume and surgical mortality in the United States. NEJM 2002;346(15):1128-37.

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