Impact of transfer status on real-world outcomes in nonelective cardiac surgery.

The study populations, surgical outcomes, resource use, and trends in nonelective admissions are shown. Although there is no significant risk-adjusted impact of transfers on clinical outcomes, transferred patients incur increased risk-adjusted hospital costs than patients admitted through the ED. Among transferred patients, there is a higher-risk cohort, existing in large part because of referral bias, which includes patients transferred from one CTS center to another.