New Study Offers Insights into the Cost of Rotator Cuff Repair

In a study now published in JBJS, Fedorka et al. evaluate the cost of rotator cuff repair (RCR) using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC). This methodology, they write, allows for “nuanced cost analysis and is a valuable tool for strategic health-care decision-making.” They note that nearly 5 million individuals seek treatment for rotator cuff pathology annually in the U.S. At the same time, RCR is one of the most cost-variable procedures, “which inherently makes it an excellent target for both cost analysis and cost-optimization strategies.”

Access the study and download the visual abstract at JBJS.org:

Defining the Cost of Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair. A Multicenter, Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing and Cost Optimization Investigation

In this multicenter, retrospective study, analyses included 921 patients who underwent RCR at 4 U.S. academic tertiary care systems (3 in New England and 1 in the Mid-Atlantic region). Sixty-one percent of the patients were male, and the mean patient age was 60 years. Data were extracted from the Care Measurement platform (Avant-Garde Health).

The aim of the study, write the authors, was to use the TDABC method “to identify specific avenues to optimize cost-efficiency within the health-care system in 2 critical areas: (1) the reduction of variability in the episode duration, and (2) the standardization of suture anchor acquisition costs.”

Highlights of the Findings

• Mean episode duration cost per patient: $4,094 ± $1,850
• A 3-fold difference between the lowest and highest-cost cases (10th percentile, $2,282 and 90th percentile, $6,833; p < 0.01)
• Mean episode duration: 7.1 hours, with the greatest variability in episode duration being time spent in the PACU and the ward postoperatively

From the study: “By reducing the episode duration variability, it was estimated that up to 640 care-hours could be saved annually at a single hospital. Likewise, standardizing suture anchor acquisition costs could generate direct savings totaling $217,440 across the hospitals.”

Read the full study at JBJS.org: Defining the Cost of Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair. A Multicenter, Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing and Cost Optimization Investigation

Interested in other Shoulder & Elbow or Sports Medicine content? Explore content by subspecialty at JBJS.org: What’s Trending in Shoulder & Elbow and What’s Trending in Sports Medicine