Development and Validation of a Risk Quantification Index for 30-Day Postoperative Mortality and Morbidity in Noncardiac Surgical Patients

ABSTRACT Background: Optimal risk adjustment is a requisite precondition for monitoring quality of care and interpreting public reports of hospital outcomes. Current risk-adjustment measures have been criticized for including baseline variables that are difficult to obtain and inadequately adjusting for highrisk patients. The authors sought to develop highly predictive risk-adjustment models for 30-day mortality and morbidity based only on a small number of preoperative baseline characteristics. They included the Current Procedural Terminology code corresponding to the patient'