title: Analysis of total joint arthroplasty costs in Chinese patients.
abstract: All charges for patients undergoing unilateral and bilateral hip or knee arthroplasties at 1 hospital in Beijing, China, were identified and assigned to 1 of 11 charge categories: hospital room, nursing, radiology, laboratory, anesthesia, surgery, prosthesis, pharmacy, blood transfusion, materials, and miscellaneous. The prosthesis and pharmacy charges at this institution accounted for approximately 80% of the total charges; compared with published data from institutions in North America and Taiwan, these 2 charges accounted for a greater percentage of total charges. In distinction, labor costs in China accounted for a lower percentage of total charges. Importantly, because the percentage of costs covered by medical insurance was relatively low, a substantial financial burden was imposed on patients that may limit access to joint arthroplasty in China.
authors.affiliation: The Joint Surgery & Sport Medicine of Orthopaedic Department at the First Affiliated Hospital to General Hospital of PLA, 51 Fucheng Road, Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: YiChao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Henry D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hattrup
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000191:economics*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000191:economics*; D002681:China; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult