Table 3.

Patient Cohort Clinical Data

		Patient Number; N = 75,141 (%)
Elixhauser Comorbidity Index
	< 0	173 (0.2)
	0	72,088 (95.9)
	0 – 10	2,718 (3.6)
	> 10	162 (0.2)
Encounter type
	Outpatient	72,906 (97.0)
	Inpatient	2,235 (3.0)
Admission source
	Non-Healthcare Facility	56,764 (75.5)
	Clinic	10,641 (14.2)
	Other	7,736 (10.3)
Admission type
	Elective	53,254 (70.9)
	Trauma Center	34 (0.0)
	Urgent	3,155 (4.2)
	Non-coded	18,698 (24.9)
Discharge status
	Discharge to Home or Self-Care	72,576 (96.6)
	Discharge to Home Health Organization	420 (0.6)
	Other	2,145 (2.9)
Patient service type
	Same Day Surgery	39,831 (53.0)
	Observation	32,875 (43.8)
	Inpatients	2,435 (3.2)
Attending physician specialty
	General Surgery	37,894 (50.4)
	Otolaryngology	37,425 (49.6)
Type of complications
	Neck Swelling	1,150 (38.5)
	Hypocalcemia	1,150 (38.5)
	Neck Hematoma	240 (8.0)
	Unilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis	181 (6.1)
	Dysphagia	175 (5.9)
	Stridor	28 (1.0)
	Laryngeal Edema	17 (0.6)
	Esophageal Disorder, not elsewhere classified	12 (0.4)
	Bilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis	9 (0.3)
	Superficial Nerve Injury	7 (0.2)
	Cellulitis of neck	5 (0.2)
	Pulmonary Insufficiency, not elsewhere classified	4 (0.1)
	Acute Respiratory Failure	3 (0.1)
	Cardiac Arrest	1 (0.0)
	Respiratory Arrest	1 (0.0)
	Postoperative Infection, not elsewhere classified	1 (0.0)
	Aspiration Pneumonitis	1 (0.0)
Number of complications
	0	72,391 (96.3)
	1	2,516 (3.3)
	2	233 (0.3)
	3	1 (0)
Inpatient length of stay
	1d	1,535 (68.7)
	2d	488 (21.8)
	3–5d	185 (8.3)
	>5d	27 (1.2)
Patient charges
	Median (IQR)	$17,841 ($12,988 – $24,919)
	Range	$ 4,790 – $ 67,254
Payer group
	Managed care	39,721 (52.9)
	Medicare	17,221 (22.9)
	Commercial	7,746 (10.3)
	Medicaid	5,092 (6.8)
	Other	2,230 (3.0)
	Self-pay	1,411 (1.9)
	Direct employer contract	1,263 (1.7)
	Charity	274 (0.4)
	Indigent	98 (0.1)
	Workers compensation	85 (0.1)
Labs done
	No	10,553 (14.0)
	Yes	64,588 (86.0)
Malignancy
	No	56,159 (74.7)
	Yes	18,982 (25.3)