The Arthroplasty Playbook: Strategies to Clear the Elective Surgery Backlog

A surgeon’s guide to building high-performance care teams, reducing intraoperative idle time, and preserving scarce hospital resources.

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) brought about substantial changes for patients who undergo elective hip and knee arthroplasty and the surgeons, teams, and institutions who provide those services. At the height of the initial pandemic, most institutions abruptly halted all elective hip and knee arthroplasty procedures for an approximately 6-week period to conserve hospital beds and medical supplies like personal protective equipment (PPE). In just the first two weeks of this shutdown, Medicare claims data revealed a steep 94% decline in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) volume and a 92% drop in total hip arthroplasty (THA) volume.

Concurrently, total daily hospital Medicare revenue for arthroplasty declined by 87% while surgeon revenue decreased by 85%. While only a small number of orthopedic practices permanently closed due to financial hardship, 68% of those surveyed sought federal funding to offset their loss of revenue.