Does Shifting Surgeries from Inpatient to Outpatient Settings Save Money? The Case of Hysterectomy in Massachusetts

摘要

Technological advances have allowed for the shifting of many surgeries from hospital inpatient to outpatient settings. This shift should lead to net cost savings as fewer resources are required. There could also be distributional and other market consequences due to differences in referral patterns, individual hospital resources, and benefit design. Scheduled hysterectomies (eg, those that are unrelated to maternity episodes) represent an example of this trend. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of shifting surgeries from inpatient to outpatient settings of care on the distribution of surgeries across types of hospitals and on overall costs.