Clinical Scorecard: Assessing Longitudinal Performance Trends in Lung Cancer Surgery: Insights from the French National Hospital Database (2020-2024)

At a Glance

Key Highlights

• First national trajectory analysis of lung cancer surgery performance across French hospitals.
• Medium-volume hospitals showed optimal improvement trajectories with a 45% reduction in risk-adjusted complications.
• Some low-volume hospitals experienced a catastrophic decline in performance, with complication rates increasing nearly ninefold.
• A subgroup of high-volume hospitals also showed concerning performance degradation.
• The study highlights the importance of systematic outcome monitoring to target quality improvement.

Guideline-Based Recommendations

Diagnosis

Management

Monitoring & Follow-up

• Implement systematic outcome monitoring using existing administrative data.

Risks

• Postoperative morbidity rates of 15%–40% and mortality rates of 2%–5%.

Patient & Prescribing Data

Adult patients undergoing surgical lung resection for primary lung cancer.

Volume-based centralisation policies alone are insufficient; organisational factors and continuous performance feedback are crucial.

Clinical Best Practices

• Utilize trajectory-based analytical frameworks for assessing hospital performance.
• Focus on continuous quality improvement through benchmarking and outcome tracking.

Related Resources & Content

• French national hospital database (PMSI)