10 Statistics on Hospital Loss for Orthopedic and Spine Surgery on Medicare Patients

Hospitals are losing $1.82 billion annually on Medicare reimbursement due to the rising cost of cases and reduction in reimbursement rate, according to a report from Premier healthcare alliance's fall 2011 Economic Outlook.

Much of the disparity occurs due to the rising cost of physician preference items. According to the report, hospitals spend $17.4 billion annually on PPIs, which is 40 percent or more of the procedure cost. The report gathered data on high-volume procedures from not-for-profit hospitals around the country.

Here is the difference between the low Medicare payment and high cost to the hospital of top orthopedic and spine procedures:
•    Spinal fusions: $13,092
•    Spinal procedures: $6,361
•    Cervical spinal fusions: $4,532
•    Back and neck procedures: $3,324
•    Hip/knee replacements: $5,623

Approximate total payment shortage, or loss, for hospitals on each procedure in 2010:
•    Spinal fusions: $45.6 million
•    Spinal procedures: $25.2 million
•    Cervical spinal fusions: $85.5 million
•    Back and neck procedures: $75 million
•    Hip/knee replacements: $665.9 million

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