Sacramento-Based Acute Care Surgery Model Improves Patient Care, Reduces Costs

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons finds that a Sacramento-based program that allows trauma and emergency care specialists to perform acute-care surgeries on an as-needed basis improves patient outcomes, reduces length of stay and lowers costs. Specifically, the study shows that over a five-year period the program reduced patient complications by 43%, hospital costs by 31% and length of stay for general surgery by 23%.

• "Pioneer Surgical Hospitalist Program in Sacramento Improves Care, Cuts Costs" (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 7/9).