A daughter in Toronto is helping her father choose a hospital for heart surgery. Both shortlisted hospitals are accredited, both surgeons are well qualified. She asks one more question — "How do your results compare?" — and the conversation suddenly becomes more interesting. This guide is about that question: which numbers to ask for, and how to read them without being misled.
Why results matter more than reputation
Reputation is built on many things: famous names, beautiful buildings, advertising. Results are built on teams and routines. The two often go together, but not always, and the way to find out is to ask what a hospital measures about itself.
The World Health Organization estimates that around one in ten patients is harmed in health care, and that more than half of that harm is preventable. Good hospitals know their own numbers because measuring is how they prevent harm. In NABH's hospital standards, a whole chapter — Patient Safety and Quality Improvement — is about collecting and acting on such indicators.
Simple routines make a real difference. In a landmark 2009 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, eight hospitals in eight cities, including New Delhi, introduced the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist. Among more than 7,600 patients, deaths fell from 1.5% to 0.8%, and complications from 11% to 7%.
| Complications · before | 11.0% |
|---|---|
| Complications · after | 7.0% |
| Deaths · before | 1.5% |
| Deaths · after | 0.8% |
Haynes et al., New England Journal of Medicine, 2009: 3,733 patients before and 3,955 after, in eight hospitals including New Delhi.
The seven numbers worth asking for
Ask about your procedure, in this department, over the last one to three years. You will not always get every figure, but the answers — and how they are given — tell you a lot.
- Volume: how many of this procedure the surgeon and the hospital do each year.
- Mortality: the share of patients who died within 30 days, or in hospital.
- Infection: the surgical site infection rate.
- Return to theatre: how often patients needed a second, unplanned operation.
- Readmission: how often patients came back within 30 days.
- Length of stay: the typical number of days, and how many stayed much longer.
- Functional results: for joints, eyes or spine — how patients walk, see or live afterwards.
Also ask how the hospital compares itself to others. Does it use a registry, an international benchmark, or its own past figures? A hospital that can say "here is our number, here is the benchmark, and here is what we changed when we fell short" is a hospital that is paying attention.
How to read the answer without being misled
Numbers about health are easy to misread. A few cautions keep you on solid ground:
- Small numbers swing. One complication in 20 operations is 5%; two is 10%. Ask how many patients sit behind each percentage.
- Sicker patients, worse-looking numbers. Centres that accept the hardest cases can have higher raw complication rates. Ask whether figures are "risk-adjusted" for age and illness.
- Zero is a warning, not a boast. Every surgical team has complications. "We have never had an infection" usually means no one is counting.
- Definitions matter. "Mortality" in hospital and at 30 days are different. Make sure two hospitals are measuring the same thing.
- Volume is a clue, not a guarantee. Higher volumes often bring smoother teams, but a good surgeon at a smaller centre can be the right choice.
- Same procedure?Compare like with like: one operation, one department.
- How many patients?Percentages from small numbers swing a lot.
- Risk-adjusted?Allowing for age and other illnesses.
- Against what benchmark?A registry, an international figure, or past years.
- What changed?Good teams can tell you how they responded to problems.
Listen to how they answer
Sometimes the most useful information is not a number at all. A surgeon who explains openly which complications happen, how often, and what the team does about them, is giving you something valuable: honesty. A hospital that refuses to discuss results, or offers only marketing claims such as "100% success", is giving you information too.
In India, as in most countries, hospitals are not required to publish full outcome tables, so many families never ask. You can. Ask politely, in writing, and give the hospital time to reply. Good units often have the figures at hand from their own audits and quality committees.
It also helps to ask what happens when things go wrong. Who is called at night? Is there an intensive care unit on site, and a blood bank? How quickly can a patient return to theatre? These answers describe the safety net under the numbers.
How we use outcomes data
When we shortlist doctors and hospitals for you, we ask these questions on your behalf and tell you what we found — including when a hospital could not answer. Accreditation is our starting point (see NABH vs JCI explained), the surgeon's experience comes next (see how doctors are credentialed), and results and openness complete the picture.
For complex care such as heart surgery or cancer treatment, this matters most. Book a consultation and ask the specialist directly; we will help you frame the questions.
Independent research. Figures are quoted from the official and published sources listed below, as they stood when we checked them (October 2026). BookMedTrip is an independent facilitator and is not affiliated with any government body, hospital, charity or organisation named here, and receives no commission from them. If anything here is out of date or inaccurate, please write to care@bookmedtrip.com and we will correct it.
Savollar
What outcome data should I ask a hospital for before surgery?
For your procedure: yearly volume, 30-day mortality, surgical site infection rate, return to theatre, 30-day readmission, typical length of stay, and functional results where relevant.
Do Indian hospitals publish their surgical results?
Most hospitals, in India and elsewhere, do not publish full risk-adjusted results. Many track quality indicators internally, especially accredited hospitals, so it is reasonable to ask in writing.
Is a hospital with zero complications the safest?
Not necessarily. Every surgical team has some complications; a claim of zero usually means they are not being measured. Openness about complications is a better sign.
