Publications by authors named "Rachel E Mosher"
Objective And Background: It is generally thought that the use of preoperative antibiotics reduces the risk of postoperative infection, yet few studies have described the association between preoperative antibiotics and the risk of dying. The objective of this study was to determine whether preoperative antibiotics are associated with a reduced risk of death.
Methods: We performed a multivariate matched, population-based, case-control study of death following surgery on 1362 Pennsylvania Medicare patients between 65 and 85 years of age undergoing general and orthopedic surgery.
Background: Postoperative complications are common in the Medicare population, yet no study has formally quantified the change in prognosis that occurs after a broad range of first complications.
Objective: We sought to estimate the relative severity of 24 first postoperative complications.
Research Design: We undertook a multivariate matched, population-based, case-control study of death after surgery in a sample of 1362 Pennsylvania Medicare patients.
Background: Board certification is often used as a surrogate indicator of provider competence, although few outcome studies have demonstrated its validity. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of patients who underwent surgical procedures under the care of an anesthesiologist with or without board certification.
Methods: Medicare claims records for 144,883 patients in Pennsylvania who underwent general surgical or orthopedic procedures between 1991 and 1994 were used to determine provider-specific outcome rates adjusted to account for patient severity and case mix, and hospital characteristics.