Rates and Risk Factors for Unplanned Emergency Department Utilization and Hospital Readmission Following Bariatric Surgery

Abstract

Unplanned perioperative healthcare utilization is a significant burden incurred by the bariatric population. A clear opportunity is identified for improvement in healthcare delivery-particularly for high-risk and high-frequency utilizers. Presentation to nonindex hospitals has important implications to the accuracy of current patient safety and quality outcomes measures. System measures designed to capture all unplanned resource utilization, not just those to index hospitals, are crucial for accurate evaluation.