Overlapping Surgery Increases Operating Room Efficiency Without Adversely Affecting Outcomes in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.
BACKGROUND
Several recent studies have demonstrated that overlapping surgeries in total hip (THA) and knee (TKA) arthroplasty do not increase the rates of complications, but whether this practice is cost-effective has yet to be addressed in the literature. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of overlapping surgery on procedural costs and surgical productivity during THA and TKA.


METHODS
We identified all patients undergoing primary THA or TKA from 2015 to 2018 by 18 surgeons at a single orthopedic specialty hospital. Procedural and personnel costs were calculated for each case using a time-driven activity-based costing algorithm. Overlap of surgical time by at least 30 minutes was used to define an overlapping procedure. We compared costs and outcomes between overlapping and nonoverlapping procedures, standardizing all costs to 8-hour time blocks. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine independent effect of overlapping procedures on costs and outcomes.


RESULTS
Of the 4786 consecutive procedures, 968 (20.2%) overlapped by at least 30 minutes. Although overlapping rooms increased mean operative time by 8.3 minutes (P < .0001) and operating room personnel costs by $80 per case (<.0001), overlapping surgeons could perform significantly more procedures per 8 hours (7.6 vs 6.4; P < .0001), increasing total 8-hour profit margin by $1215 per procedure. There was no difference in 90-day readmission rate, length of stay, or rates of discharge home between the groups.


CONCLUSION
Overlapping noncritical portions of procedures in primary THA and TKA appear to be both a safe practice and an effective strategy.
['Zachwieja|Erik|E|', 'Yayac|Michael|M|', 'Wills|Bradley W|BW|', 'Wilt|Zachary|Z|', 'Austin|Matthew S|MS|', 'Courtney|P Maxwell|PM|']
D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee D006801:Humans D007902:Length of Stay D009873:Operating Rooms D010351:Patient Discharge D012189:Retrospective Studies
overlapping surgery complications surgical productivity total hip arthroplasty total knee surgery