http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/finance/wide-variation-medicare-payments-to-treat-post-surgical-complications?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&mrkid=959610&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVRNelpHVmtNR1JrTmpjeiIsInQiOiIyNGJBRGJMS1pRVkRSNnFvOEhmQ2dlKzRUcmVxeWJScjVKdmpSeWVDclY3bEhRRXpobHp5Z3JvSE9ydnkycDgrNU14Y2NFeGFwRzNVWTdzRGZTRE1DUzhmZEpvZElCaVFGTVJNcnFEV0VXOD0ifQ%3D%3D

Post-operative complications are always costly. But depending on the hospital, they can cost much more than anticipated.

That’s the conclusion of researchers at the University of Michigan School of Medicine and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The research team examined more than 576,000 Medicare patients who suffered post-surgical complications for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, oncology-related colectomies, pulmonary resection and total hip replacements. Complication rates ranged from 4.9 percent for the hip replacements to 25.1 percent for the colectomies.

Prior research has suggested that higher-volume facilities tend to have better outcomes and associated lower costs.

The cost of delivering care for the post-surgery complications was anywhere from two to three times higher at more expensive hospitals than at lower-cost facilities, with quality of care often suffering in comparison, according to their study, which was published in JAMA Surgery.