The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery will use ProPublica's Surgeon Scorecard to assess its surgeons and will use the rates for its recertification process, according to ProPublica.
Here are five things to know:
1. Based on their ratings, surgeons may be placed on a watch list. However, the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery will not take action based on a surgeon's performance in ProPublica's analysis alone.
2. The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery is the first medical specialty to embrace the findings of the Surgeon Scorecard. The Scorecard has reported patient deaths and surgical complication rates for more than 16,000 surgeons on eight common operations based on Medicare data.
3. Prior to the Scorecard, the board did not have independent data to assess a surgeon's complication rates. ProPublica's analysis on complication rates revealed some surgeons' patients suffered severe complications at a higher rate than their peers. When conducting the analysis, complication rates are statistically changed to account for the complexity of the surgeon's patients and other factors.
4. The Scorecard fueled debate among experts, with some claiming its unreliability. Others applaud the Scorecard as the first of its kind to help patients find a surgeon.
5. Nearly 11,500 orthopedic surgeons are rated on complications following hip and knee replacements, as well as three types of spinal fusion.