Implementing value-based healthcare in hand surgery: the benefits of procedure room operating

Abstract

Health systems face rising demand and resource constraints, exacerbated by the SARS-CoV-2 (‘COVID-19’) pandemic. Value-based healthcare prioritizes achievement of outcomes that matter to patients at the lowest possible cost. The British Society for Surgery of the Hand guidance supports the performance of specific hand surgical procedures in a procedure room setting to safely increase capacity at a lower cost. In this study, this guidance was applied to all hand surgery procedures carried out over a 6-year period in a single country (Wales) to determine the volume of procedures potentially suitable for a procedure room setting (4500 cases/year). Standard costing methods were used to estimate financial and other resource savings associated with this change. Transferring suitable hand surgery procedures across Wales to a procedure room from a standard operating theatre would have reduced costs by more than £1 million/year ($1,500,000/€1,300,000) and released many hours of operating theatre time for alternative use.

Level of evidence: IV