Preventing emergency surgeries could save $1 billion

Strategies to reduce the number of emergency surgeries in the United States could save up to $1 billion in health care costs over a decade, new research suggests. The study also found that surgeries planned ahead of time (elective surgery) are less risky for patients and generally have better outcomes. "The costs of surgical care represent nearly 30 percent of total health care expenditures and they are projected to total more than $900 billion by 2025," study author Dr. Adil Haider, director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a hospital news release.