Costos de las diversas modalidades posoperatorias de la colecistectomía laparoscópica. Cooperativa Médica de Florida (COMEF), 2016-2021

Abstract

Introduction: laparoscopic cholecystectomy constitutes the gold standard to treat gallstones. Ambulatory treatment has proved to be feasible and safe for carefully selected patients. At COMEF, laparoscopic cholecystectomies have been performed since 2016, and postoperative management has covered different stages: intermediate care during hospitalization, admission in day surgery units plus home care or home admissions, hospitalization in day surgery units and discharge directly after surgery, directly from the ER. The study aims to calculate the cost of each one of the different postoperative management modalities for laparoscopic cholecystectomies between 2016 and 2021. Method: a cost study was conducted for each one of the postoperative management modalities by calculating the cost of the hospital bed day in intermediate care and house care, as well as the salary of the nurses’ staff at the day surgery unit. Data was obtained from the Healthcare Services Cost Structure and the production of each one of the services mentioned. Results: the daily bed day cost in intermediate care is $ 15,056, the daily cost of day surgery unit plus home care afterwards is $ 4,953.69, the cost of surgery admission in the day surgery unit is $ 807.69 and discharge directly from the OR is $ 33. Conclusions: the postoperative cost of ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy is lower than that requiring interaction in intermediate care and these costs are progressively reduced when moving from home care with and without interaction upon discharge towards no recovery in the day surgery unit.