In the wake of COVID-19, hospitals are challenged with rising costs, staffing shortages and backlogs of postponed surgeries. The choice of surgical equipment presents an opportunity for cost savings.
About 80% of surgeries1 involve instruments that use energy to seal and transect for better bleeding control. Deciding which energy devices to invest in could make a difference to the bottom line.
Bleeding-related complications occur in about 7-13% of surgeries2 and each bleeding complication event consumes up to $13,0003 in additional resources. Bleeding can also increase OR time and length of hospital stay for the patient iii.
A recent peer-reviewed economic analysis4 showed that there may be significant cost savings when using Ethicon’s total energy portfolio. The savings were attributed to reduced operating room (OR) time, shorter length of stays and reduced waste disposal compared to other energy devices.
The analysis included previously published studies with real-world data on outcomes and resource consumption associated with using different energy devices. Five common surgical specialties – colorectal, bariatric, gynecology, thoracic and general surgery – were included.
It was estimated that an average US hospital performs 8,000 surgeries using energy devices. These surgeries were run through a simulation model that estimated the total costs associated with using Ethicon energy devices compared to similar devices from a variety of manufacturers. OR time, length of hospital stays, units of blood and waste disposal fees were all included in the analysis.
Adopting all-Ethicon energy devices – specifically ENSEAL™, HARMONIC™, MEGA SOFT™ and MEGADYNE™ products – was estimated to reduce the cost per procedure by $101. General and thoracic surgery were the specialties with the greatest potential cost savings, though savings were also seen in bariatric and colorectal surgeries.
There are a wide variety of advanced energy devices currently approved for use in the US. When choosing which ones to purchase, weighing up-front supply costs against long-term resource consumption can be daunting.
Ethicon’s complete portfolio of energy devices can help hospitals conserve valuable resources, especially as they prepare for the coming wave of surgeries that were delayed due to the pandemic.
Hospitals do not have the luxury of spare beds, adequate staff or excess budget. OR staff do not have the luxury of spare time. It is more important than ever for purchasing decisions to not only consider reducing costs, but also reducing complications and improving patient outcomes. Finding the right partner can help achieve these goals.
About Ethicon Energy Sealing & Dissecting Products
Ethicon’s Energy products are comprised of the ENSEAL, HARMONIC, and MEGADYNE brands:
The ENSEAL family of advanced bipolar tissue sealers deliver energy between the jaws of the device to seal tissue. The ENSEAL X1 platform is the latest in the portfolio that features Adaptive Tissue Technology (ATT), an algorithm that senses changes in electrical impedance and responds with an optimized amount of energy based on tissue conditions. Ethicon recently enhanced their advanced bipolar energy portfolio with the launch of ENSEAL X1 Straight Jaw Tissue Sealer.
The HARMONIC family of ultrasonic devices are the proven ultrasonic leader with greater than 33 million procedures worldwide5 and are supported by more peer-reviewed publications than any other advanced energy manufacturer combined.6 HARMONIC devices, which also have Adaptive Tissue Technology, provide active thermal management enabling precise energy delivery resulting in minimal thermal impact on tissue.7
The MEGADYNE family is a comprehensive portfolio of Core Energy devices, including innovative products such as MEGADYNE MEGA SOFT Reusable Patient Return Electrodes and MEGADYNE Telescoping Smoke Evacuation Pencils, MEGADYNE Telescoping Soft Tissue Dissectors and MEGADYNE E-Z Clean electrodes. Partner with MEGADYNE™ Energy, part of Ethicon, to build a stronger OR safety environment for staff and patients.
1 Meeuwsen FC, Guédon ACP, Arkenbout EA, van der Elst M, Dankelman J, van den Dobbelsteen JJ. The Art of Electrosurgery: Trainees and Experts. Surg Innov. 2017;24(4):373-378. doi:10.1177/1553350617705207
2 Kalsekar I, Hsiao CW, Cheng H, et al. Economic burden of cancer among patients with surgical resections of the lung, rectum, liver and uterus: results from a US hospital database claims analysis. Health Econ Rev. 2017;7(1):22. doi:10.1186/s13561-017-0160-8
3 Stokes, M.E., Ye, X., Shah, M. et al. Impact of bleeding-related complications and/or blood product transfusions on hospital costs in inpatient surgical patients. BMC Health Serv Res 11, 135 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-11-135
4 Ferko N, Wright GWJ, Syed I, Naoumtchik E, Tommaselli GA, Gangoli G. A device category economic model of electrosurgery technologies across procedure types: a U.S. hospital budget impact analysis. J Med Econ. 2021;24(1):524-535. doi:10.1080/13696998.2021.1915626
5 Global sales data and market share & insights for HARMONIC® as of October 2021 (062951-211202)
6 As per literature searches for advanced energy devices in Embase/Medline, PubMed, and Google Scholar through May 2021 (112291-210609)
7 Per internal market share data and preclinical testing of thermal impact (120150-220809)
The authors are Ethicon, Inc. colleagues. The article was funded by Ethicon, Inc.
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