Costs of Post-Surgical Care can be Financially Devastating
When a loved one experiences an illness or injury, families focus all their attention on recovery. Most have no idea about what’s ahead…sky high costs for the care necessary to get the patient back on their feet. Even for patients who feel they’ve
prepared for a comfortable retirement, care costs can be incredibly burdensome. In Ontario, for example, costs for in-home care average about $34-$38 per hour plus HST, and an average of $390 for a 24-hour period is charged for a live-in care. In the U.S., skilled nursing and rehab centers bill patients an average of $235/day. Then, onward and upward from there: factor in medication costs, therapy expenses, durable medical equipment, and lost work days for family caregivers. Even for families who enjoy financial well-being, these large expenses are difficult to handle.
Road to Post-Op Recovery Can be Bumpy
Firstly, significant post-op complications can be common, and occur in approximately 20% of patients. And, with people living longer, post-op risk factors are becoming more worrisome. In Canada, for example, the ratio of seniors to the working age population will double from 20.3% in 2010 to 38.4% in 2040. Such demographic shifts have major impacts on health care.
Another factor in post-op complications is the global rise in obesity. In 2017, for example, 58% of adults were overweight or obese across 23 OECD* countries. Obesity’s prevalence worldwide has almost doubled since 1980.
Post-Op Complications Are Common and Costly
Individual studies of hospital-focused complications and costs paint a startling picture. For example, a Netherlands study on complications after abdominal surgery showed that costs doubled for minor complications, then doubled again for major complications. In addition, delayed complications must also be examined. One example is post-op out-of-hospital care strategies after joint replacement. In a study of U.S. Medicare data of more than 17 million hospitalizations, discharging patients to home health care (compared with discharging patients to skilled nursing facilities) resulted in a higher 30-day rate of hospital readmission.
“Based on the predicted increased need for surgical care and the increased risk of costly postoperative complications across the globe, it is imperative to identify and deliver high value care to minimize both complications and cost,” comments Gino Stirpe, Director of VUMI® Canada.
* Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Source: National Library of Medicine, November 2021; Financial Advisor Magazine, October 2020; JAMA, March 2019
