Before Getting An Operation, Ask Your Surgeon This Question

InnovationHealthcareBefore Getting An Operation, Ask Your Surgeon This QuestionByPeter Ubel,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I am a physician and behavioral scientist at Duke University.Follow AuthorJun 10, 2026, 09:21am EDTSurgeon putting on mask in preparation for a surgerygettyI have had a dozen surgical procedures in my life. Some have gone well. Some I prefer not to talk about. I did some smart things before each procedure: I pursued every viable nonoperative treatment; I got opinions from multiple physicians about whether I am likely to benefit from the procedure; and I sought out surgeons at elite institutions.But I never asked a question I now realize all patients should ask before letting a surgeon slice into their bodies: “How many of these procedures did you do last year?”There are a lot of factors that influence surgical success. It starts with the health of the patient – the sicker you are, the greater risk you have of experiencing postoperative problems. In addition, it’s critical to figure out whether surgery is “indicated,” as clinical folks would say it. That is, even if it goes well, will surgery make you better off. If you don’t need surgery in the first place, then it doesn’t matter if you have the best surgeon in the world.But once you have decided surgery is the way to go, you are best served by a surgeon, and a hospital, where the procedure is relatively common. All else equal, a surgeon who performs the procedure 10 times a year will not perform it as well is one who does it 40 times.For example, consider a recent study that evaluated outcomes of patients receiving surgery to treat cancer. Suppose you are unfortunate enough to have pancreatic cancer. If your surgeon performs 10 procedures a year for people with pancreatic cancer, you can expect a 3% chance of dying within 30 days of the procedure. By contrast, if your surgeon performs 100 such procedures a year, that risk will be cut in half. F...