Are Surgeons Working Less? The Truth About Outpatient Joint Replacements
A 7-year study breaks down exactly how much time your surgical team spends on your care.
Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is among the most successful of orthopedic procedures performed. However, the exponentially increased demand for TJA has imposed an enormous economic burden on the healthcare system, accounting for more Medicare expense than any other inpatient procedure. Not surprisingly, cost containment has become a focus of policy and research in TJA.
Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) asked the American Medical Association to re-evaluate the appropriateness of the relative value units (RVU) assigned to primary hip and knee replacements because average surgical times were dropping.
Nationally, many patients are undergoing early discharge primary TJA, with optimization occurring prior to surgery. But does an efficient, outpatient surgery mean the clinical team is doing less work?
