To evaluate the impact of regionalization on the outcomes of 16 surgical procedures performed in the Capital Health Region (Edmonton) of Alberta.
A computer search of hospital discharge abstracts coded for the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Two major hospitals in Edmonton.
The study population comprised 9250 patients (9727 procedures [4524, pre-regionalization, 5203 post-regionalization]) who underwent any of 16 major procedures in the 2 years before and the 2 years after restructuring.
Demographic data, Charlson's comorbidity index, number of urgent and emergent cases, death rate, average length of hospital stay and the readmission rate.
The post-regionalization patient group was slightly older, had a higher comorbidity index, and fewer urgent and emergent cases. The case volume increased by 15%, and 43.6% of patients used some form of community-based health care services. The median length of hospital stay decreased from 8.0 days pre-regionalization to 7.0 days post-regionalization (p