Characteristics of Operating Room Procedures in U.S. Hospitals, 2011 - Statistical Brief #170

Characteristics of Operating Room Procedures in U.S. Hospitals, 2011 - Statistical Brief #170 






April 23, 2014, Issue #421

AHRQ Stats

Twenty-nine percent of the 38.6 million U.S. hospital stays in 2011 involved operating room procedures. These procedures consumed 48 percent of the total $387 billion in hospital costs. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #170: Characteristics of Operating Room Procedures in U.S. Hospitals, 2011.) 

Highlights

In 2011, hospitalizations that involved operating room (OR) procedures constituted 29 percent of the total 38.6 million hospital stays in the United States and 48 percent of the total $387 billion in hospital costs. Hospital stays that involved an OR procedure were about twice as costly as stays that did not involve an OR procedure. Compared with hospital stays that did not include an OR procedure, stays involving an OR procedure resulted in a longer length of stay, were more likely to be elective admissions, and were less likely to involve major or extreme severity of illness. Stays billed to Medicare and Medicaid together accounted for 63 percent of aggregate hospital costs in 2011. Compared with hospital stays that did not include an OR procedure, stays involving an OR procedure resulted in a longer length of stay, were more likely to be elective admissions, and were less likely to involve major or extreme severity of illness. Hospital stays involving OR procedures were about half as likely to result in patient death as were stays without an OR procedure. The 20 most common procedures accounted for more than half of all OR procedures. Cesarean section and circumcision were the most frequent OR procedures. Musculoskeletal procedures and cardiac procedures also accounted for a substantial portion of the most common OR procedures. Twenty procedures accounted for more than half of all costs for stays involving OR procedures. Spinal fusion, knee arthroplasty, and percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PTCA) were the procedures with the highest aggregate hospital costs.