Study: Survival rates for risky surgeries in US vary widely

The chance of surviving any of four high-risk surgeries can vary by as much as 23 percent depending on what hospital patients use, according to an analysis released on Thursday. The report - by the nonprofit Leapfrog Group, a patient-safety organization supported by large employers, and Castlight Health Inc, which sells software for employers to manage healthcare spending - shows that choice of hospital "can mean the difference between life and death," said Leapfrog's Erica Mobley. Rating hospitals has become somewhat of a free-for-all, with competing groups using different data and definitions of quality.