Quality Assessment of Partial Nephrectomy Complications Reporting: ''Time to Get the Head Out of the Sand''

Quality assessment in medicine, especially in surgical subspecialties, has gained worldwide attention in recent years. Rising costs, constrained resources, and evidence of substantial variations in clinical practice have triggered growing interest in measuring quality of care in urology and in surgery. By collecting, reporting, and comparing outcome data, deficiencies in quality can be identified and care can be improved. Hospitals and physicians are increasingly asked by patients and payers to provide comprehensive data addressing this area. Outcome data are being publicly reported in different countries in Europe and in the United States. Health policy makers point out that the availability of comparative data on individual hospital and physician performance may contribute to limit the costs of health care