Financial Well-Being for Thoracic Surgeons.

The authors provide a brief overview for thoracic surgeons in topics essential to achieving financial well-being as a student, trainee, practicing surgeon, and beyond. While broad in nature, the authors' article is comprehensive, and they cover topics including student loans, asset and wealth management, investment opportunities, financial and estate planning, and insurances. It is hoped that the information provided will allow thoracic surgeons to become more familiar with the financial topics that pertain to thoracic surgeons and provide an introduction to explore financial wellness and literacy more thoroughly.

Longitudinal analysis of National Institutes of Health funding for academic thoracic surgeons.

OBJECTIVE: National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for academic (noncardiac) thoracic surgeons at the top-140 NIH-funded institutes in the United States was assessed. We hypothesized that thoracic surgeons have difficulty in obtaining NIH funding in a difficult funding climate. METHODS: The top-140 NIH-funded institutes' faculty pages were searched for noncardiac thoracic surgeons. Surgeon data, including gender, academic rank, and postfellowship training were recorded. These surgeons were then queried in NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results for their funding history. Analysis of the resulting grants (1980-2019) included grant type, funding amount, project start/end dates, publications, and a citation-based Grant Impact Metric to evaluate productivity. RESULTS: A total of 395 general thoracic surgeons were evaluated with 63 (16%) receiving NIH funding. These 63 surgeons received 136 grants totaling $228 million, resulting in 1772 publications, and generating more than 50,000 citations. Thoracic surgeons have obtained NIH funding at an increasing rate (1980-2019); however, they have a low percentage of R01 renewal (17.3%). NIH-funded thoracic surgeons were more likely to have a higher professorship level. Thoracic surgeons perform similarly to other physician-scientists in converting K-Awards into R01 funding. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to our hypothesis, thoracic surgeons have received more NIH funding over time. Thoracic surgeons are able to fill the roles of modern surgeon-scientists by obtaining NIH funding during an era of increasing clinical demands. The NIH should continue to support this mission.

Going the Extra Mile? How Provider Network Design Increases Consumer Travel Distance, Particularly for Rural Consumers.

CONTEXT: The practical accessibility to medical care facilitated by health insurance plans depends not just on the number of providers within their networks but also on distances consumers must travel to reach the providers. Long travel distances inconvenience almost all consumers and may substantially reduce choice and access to providers for some. METHODS: The authors assess mean and median travel distances to cardiac surgeons and pediatricians for participants in (1) plans offered through Covered California, (2) comparable commercial plans, and (3) unrestricted open-network plans. The authors repeat the analysis for higher-quality providers. FINDINGS: The authors find that in all areas, but especially in rural areas, Covered California plan subscribers must travel longer than subscribers in the comparable commercial plan; subscribers to either plan must travel substantially longer than consumers in open networks. Analysis of access to higher-quality providers show somewhat larger travel distances. Differences between ACA and commercial plans are generally substantively small. CONCLUSIONS: While network design adds travel distance for all consumers, this may be particularly challenging for transportation-disadvantaged populations. As distance is relevant to both health outcomes and the cost of obtaining care, this analysis provides the basis for more appropriate measures of network adequacy than those currently in use.

An exploration of the surgical skill training curriculum for cardiac surgery residents.

BACKGROUND: A "boot camp" program is commonly adopted in surgical skills training. Due to a shortage of cardiac surgeons, establishment of a well-designed training curriculum for cardiac surgery residents is needed in developing countries. METHODS: We established a comprehensive 3-module training curriculum, including: (1) the cardiopulmonary bypass establishment technique, (2) coronary artery anastomosis and (3) basic surgical skills of thoracoscopy. Each module was designed for one technique, with a training time of 1 week. Each module included theoretical knowledge learning, demonstration by senior surgeons, and practice through simulators and in vivo animal experiment. A series of questionnaires were used to assess the training effect. RESULTS: We organized 50 person-times of training. The overall satisfaction of residents participating in the entire 3-module training was 7.88 points (from a full score of 10 points). The satisfaction of each module was 8.94, 8.13, and 7.63, respectively. The survey suggested the training could increase trainees' confidence in the operation (P < 0.05). Some trainees also proposed some suggestions for the further improvement of the curriculum. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to develop a multimodule comprehensive surgical skill training curriculum for cardiac surgery residents in China, whose confidence can be effectively enhanced.

Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons Achieve High Rates of K Award Conversion Into R01 Funding.

BACKGROUND: Obtaining National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 funding remains extremely difficult. The utility of career development grants (K awards) for achieving the goal of R01 funding remains debated, particularly for surgeon-scientists. We examined the success rate for cardiothoracic and vascular (CTV) surgeons compared with other specialties in converting K-level grants into R01 equivalents. METHODS: All K (K08 and K23) grants awarded to surgeons by the NIH between 1992 and 2017 were identified through NIH Research Portfolio Online Report Tools (RePORTER), an online database combining funding, publications, and patents. Only grants awarded to CTV surgeons were included. Grants active within the past year were excluded. Mann-Whitney U tests and χ2 tests were used to compare groups. RESULTS: During this period, 62 K grants were awarded to CTV surgeons. The analysis excluded 16 grants that were still active within the last year. Twenty-two (48%) of the remaining K awardees successfully transitioned to an R01 or equivalent grant. Awardees with successful conversion published nine publications per K grant compared with four publications for those who did not convert successfully (p = 0.01). The median time for successful conversion to an R grant was 5.0 years after the K award start date. Importantly, the 10-year conversion rate to R01 was equal for CTV surgeons compared with other clinician-investigators (52.6% vs 42.5%). CONCLUSIONS: CTV surgeons have an equal 10-year conversion rate to the first R01 award compared with other clinicians. These data suggest that NIH achieves a good return on investment when funding CTV surgeon-scientists with K-level funding.

Creation, Implementation, and Assessment of a General Thoracic Surgery Simulation Course in Rwanda.

BACKGROUND: The primary objective was to provide proof of concept of conducting thoracic surgical simulation in a low-middle income country. Secondary objectives were to accelerate general thoracic surgery skills acquisition by general surgery residents and sustain simulation surgery teaching through a website, simulation models, and teaching of local faculty. METHODS: Five training models were created for use in a low-middle income country setting and implemented during on-site courses with Rwandan general surgery residents. A website was created as a supplement to the on-site teaching. All participants completed a course knowledge assessment before and after the simulation and feedback/confidence surveys. Descriptive and univariate analyses were performed on participants' responses. RESULTS: Twenty-three participants completed the simulation course. Eight (35%) had previous training with the course models. All training levels were represented. Participants reported higher rates of meaningful confidence, defined as moderate to complete on a Likert scale, for all simulated thoracic procedures (p < 0.05). The overall mean knowledge assessment score improved from 42.5% presimulation to 78.6% postsimulation, (p < 0.0001). When stratified by procedure, the mean scores for each simulated procedure showed statistically significant improvement, except for ruptured diaphragm repair (p = 0.45). CONCLUSIONS: General thoracic surgery simulation provides a practical, inexpensive, and expedited learning experience in settings lacking experienced faculty and fellowship training opportunities. Resident feedback showed enhanced confidence and knowledge of thoracic procedures suggesting simulation surgery could be an effective tool in expanding the resident knowledge base and preparedness for performing clinically needed thoracic procedures. Repeated skills exposure remains a challenge for achieving sustainable progress.

The Michigan Surgical Home and Optimization Program is a scalable model to improve care and reduce costs.

BACKGROUND: The Michigan Surgical Home and Optimization Program is a structured, home-based, preoperative training program targeting physical, nutritional, and psychological guidance. The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in this program was associated with reduced hospital duration of stay and health care costs. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, single center, cohort study evaluating patients who participated in the Michigan Surgical Home and Optimization Program and subsequently underwent major elective general and thoracic operative care between June 2014 and December 2015. Propensity score matching was used to match program participants to a control group who underwent operative care prior to program implementation. Primary outcome measures were hospital duration of stay and payer costs. Multivariate regression was used to determine the covariate-adjusted effect of program participation. RESULTS: A total of 641 patients participated in the program; 82% were actively engaged in the program, recording physical activity at least 3 times per week for the majority of the program; 182 patients were propensity matched to patients who underwent operative care prior to program implementation. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that participation in the Michigan Surgical Home and Optimization Program was associated with a 31% reduction in hospital duration of stay (P < .001) and 28% lower total costs (P < .001) after adjusting for covariates. CONCLUSION: A home-based, preoperative training program decreased hospital duration of stay, lowered costs of care, and was well accepted by patients. Further efforts will focus on broader implementation and linking participation to postoperative complications and rigorous patient-reported outcomes.

Economies of scale: body mass index and costs of cardiac surgery in Ontario, Canada.

An obesity paradox has been described, whereby obese patients have better health outcomes than normal weight patients in certain clinical situations, including cardiac surgery. However, the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and resource utilization and costs in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is largely unknown. We examined resource utilization and cost data for 53,224 patients undergoing CABG in Ontario, Canada over a 10-year period between 2002 and 2011. Data for costs during hospital admission and for a 1-year follow-up period were derived from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, and analyzed according to pre-defined BMI categories using analysis of variance and multivariate models. BMI independently influenced healthcare costs. Underweight patients had the highest per patient costs ($50,124 ± $36,495), with the next highest costs incurred by morbidly obese ($43,770 ± $31,747) and normal weight patients ($42,564 ± $30,630). Obese and overweight patients had the lowest per patient costs ($40,760 ± $30,664 and $39,960 ± $25,422, respectively). Conversely, at the population level, overweight and obese patients were responsible for the highest total yearly population costs to the healthcare system ($92 million and $50 million, respectively, compared to $4.2 million for underweight patients). This is most likely due to the high proportion of CABG patients falling into the overweight and obese BMI groups. In the future, preoperative risk stratification and preparation based on BMI may assist in reducing surgical costs, and may inform health policy measures aimed at the management of weight extremes in the population.

Comparing industry compensation of cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional cardiologists.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare payment trends between cardiothoracic surgeons and interventional cardiologists using the Open Payments website made available for the public by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data were extracted from the second release of the Open Payments database, which includes payments made between August 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014. Total payments to individual physicians were aggregated based on specialty, region of the country, and payment type. The Gini index was calculated for each specialty to measure income disparity. A Gini index of 1 indicates all the payments went to one individual, whereas a Gini index of 0 indicates all individuals received equal payments. RESULTS: During the study period of interest, data were made available for 3587 (80%) cardiothoracic surgeons compared with 2957 (99%) interventional cardiologists. Mean total payments to cardiothoracic surgeons were $7770 (standard deviation, $52,608) compared with a mean of $15,221 (standard deviation, $98,828) for interventional cardiologists. The median total payments to cardiothoracic surgeons was $1050 (interquartile range, $233-$3612) compared with $1851 (interquartile range, $607-$5462) for interventional cardiologists. The overall Gini index was 0.932, whereas the Gini index was 0.862 for interventional cardiologists and 0.860 for cardiothoracic surgeons. CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of interventional cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons received payments from drug and device manufacturers. The mean total payments to interventional cardiologists were higher than any other specialty. However, like cardiothoracic surgery, they were among the most equitably distributed compared with other specialties.

The clinical and economic burden of significant bleeding during lung resection surgery: A retrospective matched cohort analysis of real-world data.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this retrospective study was to quantify the clinical and economic burden of significant bleeding in lung resection surgery in the US. METHODS: This study utilized 2009-2012 data from the Premier Perspective DatabaseTM. Adult patients with primary pulmonary lobectomy or segmentectomy procedures were categorized by the surgical approach (VATS vs open) and primary diagnosis (primary or metastatic lung cancer vs non-lung cancer). Patients requiring ≥3 units of blood products with at least 1 unit of PRBCs: "significant bleeding" cohort; those requiring <3 units: "non-significant bleeding" cohort; and those not requiring blood products: "no bleeding" cohort. A matched cohort analysis was performed between the "significant bleeding" and the "no bleeding cohort" using matching variables: hospital, lung cancer diagnosis, year of surgery, APR-DRG severity score, procedure type and approach, age, and gender. RESULTS: The "All-patient" cohort comprised 21,429 patients: 213 "significant bleeding"; 2,780 "non-significant bleeding"; and 18,436 "no bleeding". Overall incidence of significant chest bleeding was 0.99%. Patients from "significant bleeding" cohort and "non-significant bleeding" cohort had 2.5 days and 2 days (p < 0.0001) longer length of stay in the hospital compared to those in the "no bleeding" cohort, respectively. Overall, hospital costs for "significant bleeding" cohort were higher than "no bleeding" cohort for those who were covered under Medicare ($59,871 vs $23,641), were ≥76 years of age ($64,010 vs $24,243), had greater severity of illness ($97,813 vs $51,871) and underwent open segmentectomy ($74,220 vs $21,903). Hospital costs for "significant bleeding" cohort and "non-significant bleeding" were significantly higher ($11,589 and $5,280, respectively, p < 0.0001) than no bleeding cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Although significant bleeding during lung resection surgery is rare, patients with such complication could stay longer at the hospital and cost an average of $13,103 more than those without.

Same day admission for elective cardiac surgery: how to improve outcome with satisfaction and decrease expenses.

Admission on the day of surgery for elective cardiac and non-cardiac surgery has been established as a prevalent, critical practice. This approach realizes medical, logistical, psychological and fiscal benefits, and its success is predicated on an effective outpatient pre-operative evaluation. The establishment of a highly functional pre-operative clinic with a comprehensive set-up and efficient logistical pathways is invaluable. This notion has been expanded in recent years to include the entire peri-operative period and the concept of a 'peri-operative anesthesia/surgical home' is gaining popularity and support. Evaluating patients prior to admission for surgery, anesthesiologists can place themselves at the forefront of reducing unnecessary pre-operative hospital admissions, excess lab tests, unneeded consultations, and ultimately decrease the cancellations on the day of surgery. Furthermore, by taking a leadership role in the pre-operative clinic, anesthesiologists place themselves squarely at the forefront of the burgeoning movement for the peri-operative surgical home and continue to cement the indispensability of the anesthesiologist during the entire peri-operative course. The authors present this review as a follow-up describing the successful implementation of a pre-operative same-day cardiac surgery clinic and offer these experiences over the last 8 years as a guide to helping other anesthesiologists do the same.

The elephant in the room: ethical issues associated with rare and expensive medical conditions.

The treatment of rare and expensive medical conditions is one of the defining qualities of paediatric cardiology and congenital heart surgery. Increasing concerns over healthcare resource allocation are challenging the merits of treating more expensive forms of congenital heart disease, and this trend will almost certainly continue. In this manuscript, the problems of resource allocation for rare and expensive medical conditions are described from philosophical and economic perspectives. The argument is made that current economic models are limited in the ability to assess the value of treating expensive and rare forms of congenital heart disease. Further, multi-disciplinary approaches are necessary to best determine the merits of treating a patient population such as those with significant congenital heart disease that sometimes requires enormous healthcare resources.

SGR Repeal: Reprieve or Pyrrhic Victory?

The United States Congress recently passed the bill titled H.R.2: the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). The SGR, part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, was passed to attempt to control the rate of growth for Medicare spending for physician services. As a result, all physicians were annually subject to the aggregate cuts in compensation depending on rate of economic growth in the country, requiring Congress to pass legislation each year to defer the scheduled pay cuts. Will MACRA, however, truly be a reprieve to providers from the threat of annual cuts in reimbursement of between 21% and 30%, or will it result in a Pyrrhic victory for both providers and patients after the financial impact of the repeal has been realized and the quality of health care delivery and true access to care for our seniors have been evaluated? This article from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on Health Policy, Advocacy, and Reform attempts to summarize MACRA and considers its impact on the specialty of cardiothoracic surgery.

Creating and Maintaining a Successful Service Line in an Academic Medical Center at the Dawn of Value-Based Care: Lessons Learned From the Heart and Vascular Service Line at UMass Memorial Health Care.

The service line (SL) model has been proven to help shift health care toward value-based services, which is characterized by coordinated, multidisciplinary, high-quality, and cost-effective care. However, academic medical centers struggle with how to effectively set up SL structures that overcome the organizational and cultural challenges associated with simultaneously delivering the highest-value care for the patient and advancing the academic mission. In this article, the authors examine the evolution of UMass Memorial Health Care's heart and vascular service line (HVSL) from 2006 to 2011 and describe the impact on its success of multiple strategic decisions. These include key academic physician leadership recruitments and engagement via a matrixed governance and management model; development of multidisciplinary teams; empowerment of SL leadership through direct accountability and authority over programs and budgets; joint educational and training programs; incentives for academic achievement; and co-localization of faculty, personnel, and facilities. The authors also explore the barriers to success, including the need to overcome historical departmental-based silos, cultural and training differences among disciplines, confusion engendered by a matrixed reporting structure, and faculty's unfamiliarity with the financial and organizational skills required to operate a successful SL. Also described here is the impact that successful implementation of the SL has on creating high-quality services, increased profitability, and contribution to the financial stability and academic achievement of the academic medical center.

Thoracic surgical resident education: a costly endeavor.

BACKGROUND: We sought to define an accurate measure of thoracic surgical education costs. METHODS: Program directors from six distinct and differently sized and geographically located thoracic surgical training programs used a common template to provide estimates of resident educational costs. These data were reviewed, clarifying questions or discrepancies when noted and using best estimates when exact data were unavailable. Subsequently, a composite of previously published cost-estimation products was used to capture accurate cost data. Data were then compiled and averaged to provide an accurate picture of all costs associated with thoracic surgical education. RESULTS: Before formal accounting was performed, the estimated average for all programs was approximately $250,000 per year per resident. However, when formal evaluations by the six programs were performed, the annual cost of resident education ranged from $330,000 to $667,000 per year per resident. The average cost of $483,000 per year was almost double the initial estimates. Variability was noted by region and size of program. Faculty teaching costs varied from $208,000 to $346,000 per year. Simulation costs ranged from $0 to $80,000 per year. Resident savings to program ranged from $0 to $135,000 per year and averaged $37,000 per year per resident. CONCLUSIONS: Thoracic surgical education costs are considerably higher than initial estimates from program directors and probably represent an unappreciated source of financial burden for cardiothoracic surgical educational programs.