INTRODUCTION : We sought to determine the impact of payer-mix on post-operative outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries following hepatopancreatic surgery.

METHODS : Medicare beneficiaries who underwent hepatopancreatic surgery were identified. Hospital quality markers were obtained from the Hospital General Information dataset. Hospitals were dichotomized (low/average vs. high) based on Medicare patient days versus all patient days irrespective of payer type.

RESULTS : High Medicare patient-mix hospitals were more likely to be ranked higher than the national average relative to safety of care (29.4% vs. 38.1%) and timeliness of care (15.4% vs. 26.3%) versus low burden Medicare hospitals (both p < 0.001). However, Medicare beneficiaries who had hepatopancreatic surgery at a high Medicare patient-mix hospital were at higher risk of a complication (OR = 1.13, 95%CI 1.04-1.22), and death within 30-days (OR = 1.37, 95%CI 1.23-1.53) following surgery.

CONCLUSION : While hospitals caring for higher numbers of Medicare beneficiaries generally performed better on CMS quality indicators, these rankings did not equate to improved post-operative outcomes.