Total Hip Arthroplasty for Femoral Neck Fracture: The Economic Implications of Orthopedic Subspecialty Training.

Background: Hip fractures have significant economic implications as a result of their associated direct and indirect medical costs. Under alternative payment models, it has become increasingly important for institutions to find avenues by which costs could be reduced while maintaining outcomes in these cases.

Methods: A multi-institutional retrospective analysis of Medicare patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA) for femoral neck fracture was conducted to assess the impact of fellowship training in adult reconstruction (AR) on the total costs of the 90-day episode of care. Patients were divided into 2 cohorts according to fellowship training status of the operating surgeon: (1) AR-trained and (2) other fellowship training (non-AR). The primary outcome was the total cost of the 90-day episode of care converted to a percentage of the bundled payment target price.

Results: A total of 291 patients who underwent THA for the treatment of a femoral neck fracture were included. The average total cost percentage of the 90-day episode of care was significantly lower for the AR cohort 70.9% (±36.6%) than the non-AR cohort 82.6% (±36.1%) (P < .01). After controlling for baseline demographics in the multivariable logistic regression, the care episodes in which the operating surgeons were AR fellowship-trained were still found to be significantly lower, at a rate of 0.87 times the costs of the non-AR surgeons (95% confidence interval 0.78-0.97, P = .011). In addition, the non-AR cohort exceeded the bundle target price more frequently than the AR cohort, 49 (28.7%) vs 16 (13.3%) (P = .02).

Conclusion: In an era of bundled payments, ascertaining factors that may increase the value of care while decreasing the cost is paramount for institutions and policymakers alike. The results presented in this study suggest that in the femoral neck fracture population, surgeons trained in AR achieve lower total costs for the THA episode of care. Furthermore, non-AR fellowship-trained surgeons exceeded the bundled payment target more frequently than the AR surgeons.