Zeyad T Sahli1, Sheng Zhou2, Ashwyn K Sharma3, Dorry L Segev4, Allan Massie4, Martha A Zeiger5, Aarti Mathur6. 1. Department of Surgery, The University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia. Electronic address: zts8xv@virginia.edu. 2. Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation (CORE), Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. 3. Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego Health System, San Diego, California. 4. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland. 5. Surgical Oncology Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. 6. Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to describe the economic trends in adults who underwent elective thyroidectomy. METHODS: We performed a population-based study utilizing the Premier Healthcare Database to examine adult patients who underwent elective thyroidectomy between January 2006 and December 2014. Time was divided into three equal time periods (2006-2008, 2009-2011, and 2012-2014). To examine trend in patient charges, we modeled patient charges using generalized linear regressions adjusting for key covariates with standard errors clustered at the hospital level. RESULTS: Our study cohort consisted of 52,012 adult patients who underwent a thyroid operation. During the study period, the most common procedure changed from a thyroid lobectomy to bilateral thyroidectomy. Over the study period, there was an increase in the proportion of completion thyroidectomies from 1.1% to 1.6% (P < 0.001), malignant diagnoses from 21.7% to 26.8% (P < 0.001), procedures performed at teaching hospitals from 27.7% to 32.9% (P < 0.001), and procedures performed on an outpatient basis from 93.85% to 97.55% (P < 0.001). The annual increase in median patient charge adjusted for inflation was $895 or 4.3% resulting in an increase of 38.8% over 9 y. Higher thyroidectomy charges were associated with male patients, malignant surgical pathology, patients undergoing limited or radical neck dissection, experiencing complications, those with managed health care insurance, and a prolonged length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: Despite recent changes in thyroid surgery practices to decrease the economic burden of hospitals, costs continue to rise 4.3% annually. Additional prospective studies are needed to identify factors associated with this increasing cost.
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to describe the economic trends in adults who underwent elective thyroidectomy. METHODS: We performed a population-based study utilizing the Premier Healthcare Database to examine adult patients who underwent elective thyroidectomy between January 2006 and December 2014. Time was divided into three equal time periods (2006-2008, 2009-2011, and 2012-2014). To examine trend in patient charges, we modeled patient charges using generalized linear regressions adjusting for key covariates with standard errors clustered at the hospital level. RESULTS: Our study cohort consisted of 52,012 adult patients who underwent a thyroid operation. During the study period, the most common procedure changed from a thyroid lobectomy to bilateral thyroidectomy. Over the study period, there was an increase in the proportion of completion thyroidectomies from 1.1% to 1.6% (P < 0.001), malignant diagnoses from 21.7% to 26.8% (P < 0.001), procedures performed at teaching hospitals from 27.7% to 32.9% (P < 0.001), and procedures performed on an outpatient basis from 93.85% to 97.55% (P < 0.001). The annual increase in median patient charge adjusted for inflation was $895 or 4.3% resulting in an increase of 38.8% over 9 y. Higher thyroidectomy charges were associated with male patients, malignant surgical pathology, patients undergoing limited or radical neck dissection, experiencing complications, those with managed health care insurance, and a prolonged length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: Despite recent changes in thyroid surgery practices to decrease the economic burden of hospitals, costs continue to rise 4.3% annually. Additional prospective studies are needed to identify factors associated with this increasing cost.
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