Disease-Oriented Regionalization Approach: Quality of Care and Volume Above All

The growing complexity of modern medicine introduces the potential for increasing variation in the delivery of healthcare. For patients with the same disease process, outcomes of treatment may vary considerably due to this variation. For a system looking to optimize quality and consistently deliver high-quality care, developing strategies to minimize this variation is imperative. In this chapter regionalization of complex surgery as a policy measure to optimize postoperative outcomes is discussed as a prototype of this approach. The evidence base for regionalization is presented and analyzed, as well as the pros and cons of implementation of such a policy in the United States.