Study Finds Surgery Accounts for Nearly Half of Hospital Treatment Costs

A new study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that nearly half (47 percent) of hospitals’ treatment costs were associated with inpatient surgeries in 2007, though only a quarter of admissions were related to these procedures, according to a report by the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

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The study, published in the Archives of Surgery, also found that while surgical patients were generally not as ill as other patients, their daily cost of treatment ($2,900) was more than double that of non-surgical patients ($1,400).

The study also found that the 15 most expensive procedures  — which include angioplasties, cesarean deliveries, knee replacement and spinal fusion, among other procedures — accounted for half of all procedure-related hospitals costs and one-fourth of all total hospital costs.

Read the HFMA report on surgical costs.

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