Use of a Single CPT Code for Risk Adjustment in American College of Surgeons NSQIP Database: Is There Potential Bias with Practice-Pattern Differences in Multiple Procedures under the Same Anesthetic?

Conditions under which practice-pattern-associated modeling bias might exist appear to be uncommon and to have a small impact on quality assessments for the areas examined. The evidence suggests that, within the American College of Surgeons NSQIP modeling paradigm, the principal CPT code adequately risk adjusts for operative procedure in performance assessments.