PHILADELPHIA (April 14, 2023)—According to the 2022 Cancer Surgery Volume Report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), Fox Chase Cancer Center performed the second highest number of cancer surgeries in the state of Pennsylvania in the last fiscal year.
Considered by surgical type, Fox Chase Cancer Center performed more bladder cancer surgeries than any other hospital in the state, and ranked second highest for colon cancer, liver, lung, prostate, and stomach.
“Data from PHC4 does not control for the size of the hospital, so being second in volumes when we are not the second largest hospital is even more impactful,” said Robert Uzzo, MD, MBA, FACS, President and CEO of Fox Chase. “Because we know that higher volumes are linked to better outcomes, these numbers indicate that Fox Chase is a top performer for cancer surgery in the region. We hope these statistics will be helpful in providing cancer patients and their families with information to make important decisions.”
PHC4 reports cancer surgery volumes each year for surgeries performed at Pennsylvania hospitals for 11 types of cancer. The types included in the report are bladder, brain, breast, colon, esophageal, liver, lung, pancreatic, prostate, rectal, and stomach. The data included is from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022, and is reported individually for each hospital. Surgeries performed in ambulatory surgery centers are not included in the data.
“Between 2019 and 2022, there was a 4% decrease in surgery for these eleven cancers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer diagnoses. This could reflect a change in medical management or an increase in outpatient surgeries,” said Barry Buckingham, PHC4’s Executive Director.
PHC4 is an independent state agency charged with collecting, analyzing, and reporting information that can be used to improve the quality, and restrain the cost of, healthcare in Pennsylvania.