The Texas Health Care Information Council reports on the total number of selected procedures conducted by local hospitals each year. For each of these procedures, a higher volume is usually associated with better care. But for the following procedures, Austin hospitals conduct relatively few compared to hospitals in Dallas and Houston.

Pediatric heart surgery-Children's Hospital at Brackenridge conducted seventy-five of these in 2001, while all other area hospitals did fewer than five such operations. By contrast, Children's Medical Center Dallas conducted 382, and Texas Children's Hospital Houston conducted 442.

Esophageal resection-Only The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center conducts more than ten of these procedures each year. No Austin hospital conducted more than five. Esophageal resection is a complex cancer surgery for cancer of the esophagus. Studies have shown that providers with higher volumes have lower mortality rates.

Pancreatic resection-No area hospital conducted more than five procedures. M.D. Anderson conducted sixty-six. Pancreatic resection is a complex pancreatic cancer surgery for which studies have also shown that providers with higher volumes have lower mortality rates.

Carotid endartectomy-The Heart Hospital of Austin and Seton Medical Center each conduct about ninety-five such procedures a year, while other area hospitals conducted fewer than forty. By contrast, Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas hosted 324 such procedures in 2001. A carotid endartectomy is a surgical procedure to remove blockage of the carotid artery in patients at risk for stroke.

-Kathy Mitchell