Total joint arthroplasty is expensive. Out-of-pocket cost to patients undergoing elective total joint arthroplasty varies considerably depending on their insurance coverage but can range into the tens of thousands of dollars. The goal of our study was to evaluate the association between patient financial stress and interest in discussing costs associated with surgery.

Financial stress was found to be associated with patient experience of hardship due to cost of care, likelihood to turn down a test or treatment due to copayment, likelihood to decline a test or treatment due to other costs, experiencing difficulty affording basic necessities, and using up all or most of their savings to pay for surgery (1). In total, 84% of patients reported that they wanted to discuss surgical costs with their doctors, but 90% did not want to do so at every visit.

Total joint arthroplasty creates considerable out-of-pocket costs that may affect patient decisions. These findings help elucidate important patient concerns that orthopedic surgeons should account for when discussing elective arthroplasty with patients.

References

   Amanatullah DF, Murasko MJ, Chona DV, Crijns TJ, Ring D, Kamal RN. Financial Distress and Discussing the Cost of Total Joint Arthroplasty. J Arthroplasty. 2018 Jul 17. pii: S0883-5403(18)30618-1. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2018.07.010. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30057266.