The Influence of Surgeon Specialty on Outcomes in General Thoracic Surgery: A National Sample 1996 to 2005

The majority of general thoracic surgical operations in the United States are performed by surgeons not specializing in thoracic surgery. Both general thoracic surgeons and cardiac surgeons achieve better outcomes than general surgeons. Differences in mortality may be more dependent on surgeon volume than subspecialty. Differences in morbidity are significantly impacted by surgeon specialty and volume.