During those two years, surgeons performed 40,377 bypass surgeries in the state, and the average death rate was 3.08 percent, or roughly one death for every 30 people undergoing the operation. The report rated surgeons and hospitals using a formula that adjusted for factors that can increase a patient's mortality risk, such as age, gender, co-existing medical conditions and prior heart surgeries.

The report rated four surgeons as having mortality rates that were "significantly better" than the state average, and 12 as "significantly worse." Joseph Parker, director of the Healthcare Outcomes Center at the state health planning agency, cautioned that the report is just a two-year snapshot. "This is the most reliable and objective data we have on surgeon performance in the state," he said. "But on the other hand, it does not tell the whole story. One of the things that influences the results is just bad luck." When the plaque caused by cholesterol and fat builds up enough to restrict coronary arteries, surgeons can "bypass" the blockage by taking a vein or artery from another part of the body to create a new pathway. The surgery lasts four to six hours, and the recovery period involves intensive care. The state agency has published hospital death rates for bypass surgery before, as well as for heart attacks and pneumonia. However, this was the first time comparing the performance of individual physicians. Of the four top hospitals in the state for the surgery- 2 are in Northern Ca. Mercy General Hospital and Mercy Hospital Redding were both included.