News for Immediate Release
October 3, 2024
Harrisburg – PHC4 released the Common Procedures Report today, which displays outcome and volume information for common orthopedic procedures performed in Pennsylvania facilities.
The Common Procedures Report displays hospital-specific outcomes, ratings for complications and extended postoperative length of stay (i.e., how long a patient stays in the hospital after surgery), and average hospital charges as well as inpatient and outpatient volume, for three orthopedic procedure groups: spinal fusion, total hip replacement, and total knee replacement. This report includes inpatient acute care hospital discharges, as well as hospital outpatient department and ambulatory surgery center encounters, from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023.
Barry D. Buckingham, the Executive Director of PHC4, believes this report can assist consumers and purchasers in making more informed health care decisions, as well as serve as an aid to providers in highlighting opportunities for quality improvement. “Providing the most accurate and timely data allows thorough examination of outcomes and volume, informing the decisions of key stakeholders in Pennsylvania,” stated Buckingham.
Variations in statewide statistics are also described in the report and include the following changes in case volume, which occurred from Quarter 4, 2021 to Quarter 3, 2023:
- The number of inpatient spinal fusion cases increased 2.5%, while the number of outpatient cases decreased 6.4%.
- The number of inpatient total hip replacement cases decreased 37.3%, while the number of outpatient cases increased 47.9%.
- The number of inpatient total knee replacement cases decreased 39.4%, while the number of outpatient cases increased 40.4%.
PHC4 is an independent council formed under Pennsylvania statute (Act 89 of 1986, as amended by Act 15 of 2020) in order to address rapidly growing health care costs. PHC4 continues to produce comparative information about the most efficient and effective health care to individual consumers and group purchasers of health services. In addition, PHC4 produces information used to identify opportunities to contain costs and improve the quality of care delivered.
For more information, visit phc4.org.
Media contact:
Barry D. Buckingham, Executive Director, PHC4
