By: Saparja Nag  Jan. 23, 2018

An analysis conducted by Dexur found that Dr. Mikhail Uri Karapetian discharged the most Medicare inpatients with DRG-189 (pulmonary edema and respiratory failure) in Southern California between October 2015 and September 2016, with 51 discharges throughout the 12-month period. He surpassed the next highest volume physician for this condition in Southern California by 20 discharges. Dr. Paryus Patel, the 2nd ranked doctor, had 31 discharges for DRG-189. The next three highest volume physicians were Dr. Leonard J. Adelson with 30 discharges, Dr. Jasbir Singh Tiwana with 28 discharges, and Dr. Joel A. Pengson with 24 discharges between October 2015 and September 2016.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Jan. 16, 2018

Dexur’s most recent analysis of Medicare spine discharge data between October 2015 and September 2016 indicates that Dr. Edward Scudder Mackey of Saint Thomas West Hospital in Nashville accounted for 47 DRG-460 discharges for Tennessee Medicare enrollees, the most of any physician. These discharges made up 2.68% of the 1,756 total DRG-460 (Spinal Fusion Except Cervical Without Major Complication or Comorbidity) discharges from Tennessee Medicare enrollees during the time period. Dr. James E. Jolley of CHI Memorial Hospital Chattanooga ranked 2nd with 41 discharges, Dr. Paul H. Johnson of Physicians Regional Medical Center ranked 3rd with 40 discharges, Joseph A. Jestus of Cookeville Regional Medical Center ranked 4th with 38 discharges, and Dr. Todd Abel of University of Tennessee Medical Center ranked 5th with 37 discharges.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Jan. 05, 2018

Dexur analysts recently analyzed all inpatient claims data for U.S. Medicare enrollees between October 2015 - September 2016 and found that Dr. Vuong B. Nguyen, Dr. Edward J. Stolarski, and Dr. Edward Thomas Humbert were the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th highest volume physicians for hip and knee replacements during the time period. Dr. Nguyen practices at Orlando Regional Medical Center and accounted for 545 Medicare discharges. Dr. Stolarski, who practices primarily at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, accounted for 509 discharges and Dr. Humbert, whose primary practicing location is Lee Memorial Hospital, accounted for 504 discharges. The only U.S. physician to account for more discharges from Medicare enrollees than Dr. Nguyen during the timeframe was Dr. Andrew Glen Yun, who accounted for 752 discharges while practicing at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Dec. 29, 2017

Dexur analysts recently studied Medicare inpatient urology data from October 2015 to September 2016 and found that Dr. Vipul R. Patel, of Florida Hospital Orlando, accounted for 270 urology discharges last year, the most of any U.S. physician. Dr. Patel was the only physician to account for over 200 discharges of this nature during the time period and the only physician in all of Florida to report over 100 discharges. Nationally, the 2nd and 3rd ranked physicians were Dr. David B. Samadi of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, New York and Dr. Thomas Joseph Guzzo of Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The two physicians accounted for 159 and 140 discharges, respectively.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Dec. 22, 2017

Dexur analysts recently examined intracranial hemorrhage or cerebral infarction Medicare discharge data from all U.S. physicians and found that Dr. Edith N. Aniedobe accounted for 109 discharges, more than any other U.S. physician during the analyzed time period. Dr. Edith Aniedobe practices at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital in Clinton, Maryland and was the only physician between October 2015 - September 2016 to account for over 100 discharges and one of only three physicians to account for 90 or more discharges. Dr. Scott Stuart Brehaut of Faxton - St. Luke’s Healthcare - St. Luke’s Campus in Utica, New York ranked 2nd and Dr. Andrei V. Alexandrov of Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee ranked 3rd. Dr. Brehaut and Dr. Alexandrov accounted for 96 and 93 discharges, respectively. 

By: Saparja Nag  Dec. 14, 2017

Length of stay and 30-day readmission rate are known to be related but initiatives to decrease total days hospitalized by discharging patients earlier may actually be negatively impacting the overall quality of care. A background article analyzed how 30-day readmissions quantitatively affect overall length of stay, but the clinical implications of these metrics may uncover even more. Dr. John Gore has built his medical profession on not only treating patients in urology and urologic oncology, but also on studying the clinical care processes for these patients. In a previous article, Dr. Gore’s research on 30-day readmissions following urinary diversions was briefly discussed. We checked in with Dr. Gore to see if there had been any advancements in his research.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Dec. 11, 2017

By: Jeffrey Maser  Dec. 04, 2017

Recent Dexur research on Medicare inpatient cardiovascular discharges between October 2015 - September 2016 showed that Dr. Samin Sharma, of The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, New York, was the highest volume cardiovascular physician in the U.S. During the time period, Dr. Sharma accounted for 641 out of the 1,972,008 toal cardiovascular discharges from U.S. Medicare enrollees to make up 0.03% of the national market share.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Nov. 27, 2017

Physician discharge volume is an important metric, as higher discharge volume may be suggestive of higher quality care. Furthermore, regional physicians may treat local issues more appropriately than a physician unfamiliar with a population’s local health patterns. For more background on the potential correlation between physician discharge volume in a region and quality of care administered, please click here.

By: Jeffrey Maser  Nov. 15, 2017

Endocrinology is the study of medicine pertaining to the endocrine system, the human body’s hormone control system. The field of endocrinology is a specialty area so the total number of endocrinology discharges across the U.S. pales in comparison to the discharge volume of a significantly higher volume procedural area like orthopedics. For reference, there were 1,364,880 orthopedic discharges accounted for by U.S. residents during the time period of October 2015 – September 2016 while only 359,872 endocrinology discharges were attributed to U.S. residents during the same timeframe.