Risk Adjusting Survival Outcomes in Hospitals That Treat Patients With Cancer Without Information on Cancer Stage

JAMA Network open access

At a Glance

• This study examined outcomes of patients with cancer treated at different types of hospitals and to assess if cancer registry data are needed for case-mix adjustment.
• Comparative analysis was performed of outcomes of patients treated at various types of cancer hospitals as was parallel analysis testing if information on cancer stage was needed for risk adjustment.
• Patients treated at specialty cancer hospitals have a 10% lower chance of dying in the first year than those at community hospitals after adjusting for case mix.
• Whether or not cancer-specific data about patients are included in the case mix, performance rankings of hospitals are highly consistent.