A Standardized Framework for Evaluating Surgical Enhanced Recovery Pathways: A Recommendations Statement from the TDABC in Health-care Consortium

Procedure Type and Preoperative Patient-Reported Outcome Metrics Predict Variation in the Value of Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement

Purpose

To characterize variation in the value of hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement and explore associations between value and patient-specific demographic characteristics, comorbidities, preoperative patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), and intraoperative variables.

Methods

We included all patients aged 18 years or older who underwent primary arthroscopic acetabular labral repair or debridement between 2015 and 2020 with minimum 2-year follow-up. The exclusion criteria were hip dysplasia, advanced hip osteoarthritis (TÖnnis grade >1), or unreconcilable documenting errors. Value was calculated by dividing 2-year postoperative International Hip Outcome Tool 33 scores by time-driven activity-based costs. To protect the confidentiality of internal hospital cost data, the study average for value was normalized to 100. Multivariable linear mixed-effects models were used to identify factors underlying variation in value.

Results

This study included 161 patients. There were 76 women (47.2%) and 85 men, with a mean age of 36.0 years (standard deviation [SD], 10.9 years) and mean body mass index (BMI) of 25.8 (SD, 4.3). Most patients were white (92.5%), were not Hispanic (93.8%), and were commercially insured (92.5%). Preoperatively, 57.1% of hips were classified as Tönnis grade 1 (57.1%) whereas the remainder were grade 0. The normalized value of hip arthroscopy ranged from 25.4 to 216.4 (mean ± SD, 100 ± 38.4), with a 3.0-fold variation between patients in the 10th and 90th percentiles. Higher value was significantly associated with Tönnis grade 0 (12.2-point increase, P = .025), no prior contralateral hip arthroscopy (17.3-point increase, P = .039), higher preoperative PROMs (0.52-point increase per 1-unit increase, P < .001), and no bone marrow aspirate concentrate or microfracture (33.8-point increase, P < .001). Value was also significantly associated with osteoplasty type and labral treatment technique (P < .05 for both). In contrast, operative year, age, sex, BMI, race, ethnicity, Outerbridge grade, and American Society of Anesthesiologists score were not independently associated with value. A model incorporating these factors as fixed effects and the surgery center as a random effect explained 42.3% of the observed variation in value. Sensitivity analyses revealed that value drivers may vary slightly across PROMs.

Conclusions

This study revealed wide variation in the value of hip arthroscopy that was most strongly explained by osteoplasty type, labral management technique, and preoperative PROMs. In contrast, patient demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and BMI contributed minimal independent variability.

Level of Evidence

Level IV, economic and decision analysis.

Supporting managerial decisions: a comparison of new robotic platforms through time-driven activity-based costing within a value-based healthcare framework

BACKGROUND

The advent of novel robotic platforms requires that managers base their decisions on the value these platforms generate. This study showcases how micro-costing methodologies can assist managers in the decision-making process regarding the implementation of new robotic platforms within the value-based healthcare (VBHC) framework.

METHODS

We applied time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) to evaluate cost disparities between the da Vinci and Hugo robotic systems for robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Data were collected from consecutively enrolled patients with organ-confined prostate cancer. Basic cost information was gathered from Azienda Universitaria Integrata di Verona's finance and pharmacy departments. We conducted cost and sensitivity analyses to evaluate the most cost-sensitive parameters.

RESULTS

The da Vinci system incurred higher total costs for RARP than the Hugo system (€4,97.21 vs. € 3,511.73, p-value < 0.001) However, excluding surgical kit costs, the da Vinci platform proved less expensive (€1,481.18 vs. €1,926.18, p-value < 0.001). Sensitivity analyses identified surgical kit costs as the most influential parameter, followed by surgical duration and platform costs.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the importance of micro-costing practices in supporting managerial decisions within a VBHC framework. When clinical outcomes are equivalent, the value of robotic platforms is related to cost savings. By using TDABC and sensitivity analyses, managers can pinpoint critical activities and parameters to optimize the effective adoption of new platforms.

A Mobile App for the Precise Measurement of Healthcare Provider Activity Times to Support Time-Driven Activity Based Costing Studies

The duration of activities performed by healthcare providers are pivotal to Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) models. This study examines the use of a smartphone mobile application technology to record activity times. This study validates the accuracy of activity times recorded on a smartphone mobile application, dTool, compared to observed length of time recordings in the operating room. For analysis, we performed two one-sided tests for the measurements "Case Start" and "Case End". Equivalence bounds were specified in terms of raw mean difference of 1 min (upper) and -1 min (lower). The total number of comparisons in the observer protocol was 72 (32 "case start" patient comparisons and 40 "case end" patient comparisons measured over 45 individual OR cases). Given equivalence bounds of -1.000 and 1.000 (on a raw scale) and an alpha of 0.05, both equivalence tests were significant: provider and third-party observer protocol presented t(40) = 3.228 and p = < 0.001; observer timing protocol presented t(68.68) = 56.762, p = < 0.001. Conclusions: With this novel smartphone technology, a healthcare provider can reliably self-record activity LoT using dTool while providing patient care. Future TDABC studies incorporating this technology will reduce the potential operational barriers to implementation.