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Background The relationship of expenditures related to rescuing patients from complications and hospital quality has not been well characterized. We sought to examine the relationship between payments for treating post-operative complications after liver and pancreas surgery and hospital quality. Methods A retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent hepatopancreatic surgery was performed using claims data from 2013 to 2015 in the Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MEDPAR) database. Medicare payments for index hospitalization and readmissions, as well as perioperative clinical outcomes were analyzed. Hospitals were stratified using average payments for patients who were rescued from complications (cost-of-rescue). Results A total of 13,873 patients and 737 hospitals were included in the analyses. Patient characteristics were similar across hospitals. Risk-adjusted rates of overall complications were higher at the highest cost-of-rescue hospitals (relative risk [RR], 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.16–1.58), as well as rates of serious complications (RR, 1.78, 95% CI 1.51–2.09), 30-day readmission (RR 1.21 95% CI 1.06–1.39), 90-day mortality (RR, 1.29, 95% CI 1.01–1.64), and rates of failure-to-rescue (RR, 1.50, 95% CI 1.14–1.97). Conclusion Highest cost-of-rescue hospitals demonstrated worse quality metrics, including higher rates of serious complications, failure-to-rescue, 30-day readmission, and 90-day mortality.