Acute care surgery: a means for providing cost-effective, quality care for gallstone pancreatitis
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Acute care surgery: a means for providing cost-effective, quality care for gallstone pancreatitis Patrick B. Murphy1*, Dave Paskar2, Richard Hilsden1, Jennifer Koichopolos1, Tina S. Mele1,3 and on behalf of Western Ontario Research Collaborative on Acute Care Surgery
Abstract Background: Modern practice guidelines recommend index cholecystectomy (IC) for patients admitted with gallstone pancreatitis (GSP). However, this benchmark has been difficult to widely achieve. Previous work has demonstrated that dedicated acute care surgery (ACS) services can facilitate IC. However, the associated financial costs and economic effectiveness of this intervention are unknown and represent potential barriers to ACS adoption. We investigated the impact of an ACS service at two hospitals before and after implementation on cost effectiveness, patient quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and impact on rates of IC. Methods: All patients admitted with non-severe GSP to two tertiary care teaching hospitals from January 2008–May 2015 were reviewed. The diagnosis of GSP was confirmed upon review of clinical, biochemical and radiographic criteria. Patients were divided into three time periods based on the presence of ACS (none, at one hospital, at both hospitals). Data were collected regarding demographics, cholecystectomy timing, resource utilization, and associated costs. QALY analyses were performed and incremental cost effectiveness ratios were calculated comparing pre-ACS to post-ACS periods. Results: In 435 patients admitted for GSP, IC increased from 16 to 76% after implementing an ACS service at both hospitals. There was a significant reduction in admissions and emergency room visits for GSP after introduction of ACS services (p < 0.001). There was no difference in length of stay or conversion to an open operation. The implementation of the ACS service was associated with a decrease in cost of $1162 per patient undergoing cholecystectomy, representing a 12.6% savings. The time period with both hospitals having established ACS services resulted in a highly favorable cost to quality-adjusted life year ratio (QALY gained and financial costs decreased). Conclusions: ACS services facilitate cost-effective management of GSP. The result is improved and timelier patient care with decreased healthcare costs. Hospitals without a dedicated ACS service should strongly consider adopting this model of care. Keywords: Acute care surgery, Quality, Cost effectiveness, Gallstone pancreatitis, Cholecystectomy
* Correspondence: pbatesmurphy@gmail.com; patrick.murphy@londonhospitals.ca Poster presentation of preliminary work at the 2015 Canadian Association of General Surgery Conference, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada on September 17-20, 2015.Work performed at the London Health Sciences Centre and Western University 1 Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Au
