Mayo Study Finds That ‘July Effect’ In Hospitals Is a Myth When It Comes To Spine Surgery

The “July Effect” — the notion that July is the most dangerous time to be a patient because of new, inexperienced residents at hospitals — is a myth, at least when it comes to spine surgery, according to a new study from Mayo Clinic researchers. Research results, which appear in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, show that there is no spike in in-hospital deaths or complications after surgery in July compared to other months.

That said, researchers did find an increase of infection after surgery as well as in the number of patients being discharged to long-term facilities in July in teaching hospitals. However, they said that these increases were not enough to account for the “July Effect.”

The findings are based on analysis of nearly one million spine surgery hospitalizations that occurred between 2001 and 2008 that were included in the nationwide inpatient sample. For more information, click here to read the full release.