Study provides first standardized estimates of OR costs

Editor's Note

Using financial data from California’s short-term and specialty hospitals from FY 2005 to FY 2014, researchers from the UCLA School of Medicine provide the first standardized estimates of OR costs.

The analysis, which focused on two revenue centers--surgery/recovery and ambulatory surgery--found that the mean cost of OR time is $36 to $37 per minute.

Of this amount:

• $20 to $21 is direct cost
• $13 to $14 is attributable to wages and benefits
• $2.50 to $3.50 is attributable to surgical supplies.

Understanding hospital costs is critical to value-based care and will allow those interested in value improvement to identify high-yield targets, the authors say.

Questions What is the cost of 1 minute of operating room time, and what contributes to this cost? Findings In this cross-sectional analysis, the mean cost of operating room time in fiscal year 2014 for California's acute care hospitals was $36 to $37 per minute; $20 to $21 of this amount is direct cost, with $13 to $14 attributable to wages and benefits and $2.50 to $3.50 attributable to surgical supplies.

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