Dr. Ziad Sous of Hillcrest Medical Center Treated 170 Medicare Patients with Cardiac Arrhythmia, the Most of Any Physician in Oklahoma

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According to an analysis performed by Dexur on Oklahoma physicians, Dr. Ziad Sous, who practices primarily at Hillcrest Medical Center, accounted for the most Medicare inpatient discharges for all cardiac arrhythmias in 2016 with 170 total discharges. Dr. Sous far surpassed any other physician practicing in Oklahoma, with a discharge volume for this condition nearly four times that of the 2nd ranked physician. Discharge volume is not necessarily indicative of the quality of medical care but it may reveal which physicians are more experienced in treating specific conditions.

The analysis was performed using physicians practicing at hospitals in Oklahoma with at least 11 discharges with cardiac arrhythmias. This category includes DRG-308 (cardiac arrhythmia and conduction disorders with major complication or comorbidity), DRG-309 (cardiac arrhythmia and conduction disorders with complication or comorbidity) and DRG-310 (cardiac arrhythmia and conduction disorders without complication or comorbidity/major complication or comorbidity). Of these three DRGs, DRG-309 was the highest volume cardiac arrhythmia group with 405,313 discharges nationally, 5,704 of which were from Oklahoma enrollees between January and December 2016.

Not only did Dr. Sous have a particularly high discharge volume, he also exhibited better quality outcomes for length of stay and readmission rate at the DRG-level than state and national averages. DRG-309 is highlighted as it was the highest discharging DRG for Dr. Sous at 82 discharges. The average LOS in the nation and state were 3.04 days and 2.93 days, respectively. Dr. Sous averaged a LOS of 2.7 days in 2016. His readmission rate for DRG-309 was also well below the national rate of 21.4% and the Oklahoma rate of 18.92%. Only 13.4% of Dr. Sous’ DRG-309 patients were readmitted within 30 days.

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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.