ANN ARBOR, Mich.—More physician-owned outpatient surgery centers may mean the surgical removal of more kidney stones, according to a new study published in the Sept. issue of the Journal of Urology.
John M. Hollingsworth, MD, of the University of Michigan Medical School, and his colleagues used state-level data from Florida to investigate what happens after a surgery center opens up in a healthcare market. They looked into how business at nearby hospitals affected, and whether the overall rate of surgery increases.
They looked specifically at the surgical removal of kidney stones, a common and painful urinary tract disorder that afflicts about 5 percent of the U.S. population and accounts for almost 3 million healthcare visits a year.
The researchers found more than 2,200 additional surgeries performed where an ambulatory surgery center opened between 2002 and 2006. This translated into an average annual increase of 11 procedures per 100,000 individuals.
Four years after a center's opening, approximately 64 percent more stone surgeries were being performed in its local health care market compared to a similar market without an ambulatory surgery center.
