Ventral hernia repair, a common surgical procedure in the United States, may provide a lot of volume for hospitals, but a majority result in a net loss, according to a General Surgery News report.
Drew Reynolds, MD, instructor of surgery at the University of Kentucky, and other surgeons presented a study on the financial viability of ventral hernia repairs at the 53rd annual meeting of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.
After looking at the cost data of all open ventral hernia repairs performed at an academic medical center between July 2008 and May 2011, the researchers found the costs vastly outpace the reimbursement mostly due to the operating room supply costs, including the biologic mesh materials, according to the report. Inpatient synthetic mesh repairs were essentially budget-neutral for hospitals, gaining a profit of $60 per case. All other ventral hernia repairs lost money — biologic mesh repairs were found to lose the most at roughly $8,370 per procedure.
"Dr. Reynolds and his colleagues have presented a disturbing financial profile for ventral hernia repair, which would in fact become even more grim if the cost of readmissions were added," said Daniel Deziel, MD, professor of surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, in the report.
Dr. Reynolds said specialized hernia centers could offset losses by improving outcomes, and a national hernia registry could also lead to more standardization and efficiency, according to the report.
Drew Reynolds, MD, instructor of surgery at the University of Kentucky, and other surgeons presented a study on the financial viability of ventral hernia repairs at the 53rd annual meeting of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract.
After looking at the cost data of all open ventral hernia repairs performed at an academic medical center between July 2008 and May 2011, the researchers found the costs vastly outpace the reimbursement mostly due to the operating room supply costs, including the biologic mesh materials, according to the report. Inpatient synthetic mesh repairs were essentially budget-neutral for hospitals, gaining a profit of $60 per case. All other ventral hernia repairs lost money — biologic mesh repairs were found to lose the most at roughly $8,370 per procedure.
"Dr. Reynolds and his colleagues have presented a disturbing financial profile for ventral hernia repair, which would in fact become even more grim if the cost of readmissions were added," said Daniel Deziel, MD, professor of surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, in the report.
Dr. Reynolds said specialized hernia centers could offset losses by improving outcomes, and a national hernia registry could also lead to more standardization and efficiency, according to the report.
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