Dr. Ahmed Salman was the Only Washington Physician with an Average LOS Under 3 Days for Pulmonary Edema and Respiratory Failure Patients

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According to a Dexur analysis of Washington physicians who treated Medicare inpatients for pulmonary edema and respiratory failure, Dr. Ahmed Salman of Providence Centralia Hospital averaged the lowest length of stay at just 2.4 days. Dr. Salman was the only physician in the state to have an average LOS under 3 days. Dr. Christopher MacCausland, also of Providence Centralia Hospital, ranked 2nd with an average LOS of 3.1 days. Three physicians then tied for 3rd at 3.3 days - Dr. Barbara Kraynek at Providence Regional Medical Center - Colby Campus, Dr. Mihret M. Asressahegn at Harrison Medical Center - Bremerton, and Dr. Yongqing Li at Samaritan Hospital.

The average LOS was calculated for each physician in Washington who accounted for at least 11 DRG-189 (Pulmonary Edema and Respiratory Failure) discharges between January 2013 and December 2016. For this analysis, 40 physicians fulfilled the criteria and were included. Average LOS only refers to the average length of index hospitalization stay per Medicare inpatient discharge and should not be confused with the 30-day episode of care average LOS. The Washington state average LOS of 4.92 days was significantly lower than the national average of 6.74 days, which includes all physicians practicing in the respective regions, regardless of discharge volume.

Even with such a low state average LOS, 34 of the 40 total analyzed physicians averaged an LOS less than the state's 4.92 day average. This is likely the effect of average LOS of physicians with fewer than 11 discharges, who were not included in this analysis but contributed to the state and national averages. The top 12 physicians with the lowest average LOS were not particularly high in volume for DRG-189, the only pulmonary edema and respiratory failure DRG. The highest discharging physician among them was Dr. Allison Leigh Sackin with 50 discharges. This ranked her 8th in discharge volume. The physician with the lowest average LOS, Dr. Salman, ranked 37th in discharge volume with 16 DRG-189 discharges.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Saparja Nag

Saparja is a healthcare journalist with a particular interest in how medicine can and should affect health policy. She has extensive experience as a health educator and research scientist in biochemistry. She also enjoys running, cooking elaborate meals, and then eating elaborate meals. Saparja received a Bachelors of Arts in Biochemistry from Vassar College.