title: Cost impact of unexpected disposition after orthopedic ambulatory surgery associated with category of anesthesia provider.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide estimates of the costs and health outcomes implications of the excess risk of unexpected disposition for nurse anesthetist (NA) procedures.
  
  
  METHODS
  A projection model was used to apply estimates of costs and health outcomes associated with the excess risk of unexpected disposition for NAs reported in a recent study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ambulatory and inpatient surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Base-case model parameters were based on estimates taken from peer-reviewed publications when available, or from other sources including data for all hospital stays in the United States in 2013 from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Web site. The impact of parameter uncertainty was assessed using 1-way and 2-way sensitivity analyses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Major complication rates, relative risks of complications, anesthesia costs, costs of complications, and cost-effectiveness ratios.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the base-case model, there were on average 2.3 fewer unexpected dispositions for physician anesthesiologists compared with NAs. Overall, anesthesia-related costs (including the cost of managing unexpected dispositions) were estimated to be about $31 higher per procedure for physician anesthesiologists compared with NAs. Alternative model scenarios in the sensitivity analysis produced estimates of smaller additional costs associated with physician anesthesia administration, to the point of cost savings in some scenarios.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Provision of anesthesia for ambulatory knee and shoulder procedures by physician anesthesiologists results in better health outcomes, at a reasonable additional cost, compared with procedures with NA-administered anesthesia, at least when using updated cost-effectiveness willingness-to-pay benchmarks.
authors.affiliation: Avalon Health Economics LLC, 26 Washington St., Floor 3, Morristown, NJ 07960, USA; Texas A&M University, 212 Adriance Lab Rd 1266 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843, USA. Electronic address: rohsfeldt@tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Ohsfeldt
authors.affiliation: American Society of Anesthesiologists, 1061 American Lane, Schaumburg, IL 60173, USA. Electronic address: T.Miller@asahq.org.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Avalon Health Economics LLC, 26 Washington St., Floor 3, Morristown, NJ 07960, USA. Electronic address: john.schneider@avalonecon.com.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.affiliation: Avalon Health Economics LLC, 26 Washington St., Floor 3, Morristown, NJ 07960, USA. Electronic address: cara.scheibling@avalonecon.com.
authors.forename: Cara M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Scheibling
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics*; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods; D000072080:Anesthesiologists / Q000191:economics; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009719:Nurse Anesthetists / Q000191:economics; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Ambulatory surgery; Cost-effectiveness; Disposition risk; Nurse anesthetists; Physician-administered anesthesia; Projection model