TITLE:
Cost Containment of Total Knee Arthroplasty in the US: DEA Analysis on Regional Cost and Clinical Comparison between 2010 and 2013
AUTHORS:
Alexandra M. Ball, Jia Yu
KEYWORDS:
Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Cost Efficiency, Quality of Care
JOURNAL NAME:
Health,
Vol.12 No.6,
June
8,
2020
ABSTRACT: The purpose of
this research is to evaluate clinical and cost effectiveness of total knee
replacement surgery (TKA) for adults hospitalized in the United States between
2010 and 2013. We tried to answer the question that whether lower length of
stay and higher utilization of post-op facilities would be helpful to control
the overall costs. Using the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) database
and cost data from Blue Cross Blue shield, this study seeks to identify which
U.S. region renders the highest quality patient care during a three-year span
of 2008-2010. Using length of stay and discharge disposition (2010) as input factors,
and regional TKA costs (2013) as output factors, Data Envelopment Analysis
(DEA), a non-parametric method, illustrated the efficiency ranking of four
regions in the US on TKA expenditures. The result shows the West is the most
efficient region on controlling the overall cost by shrinking the length of
stay and increasing the utilization of short-term/long-term care facilities.