TY  - BOOK
AU  - Giladi, Aviram M
AU  - Long, Chao
TI  - Billing and Utilization Trends for Hand Surgery Indicate Worsening Barriers to Accessing Care
SN  - 1558-9447
PY  - 2022///
KW  - Curtis National Hand Center
KW  - MedStar Health Research Institute
KW  - Journal Article
N2  - BACKGROUND: Hospitals and providers may increase hand surgery charges to compensate for decreasing reimbursement. Higher charges, combined with increasing utilization of ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), may threaten the accessibility of affordable hand surgery care for uninsured and underinsured patients; CONCLUSIONS: Charges for hand surgery procedures steadily increased, possibly reflecting an attempt to make up for reimbursements perceived to be inadequate. This trend places uninsured and underinsured patients at greater risk for financial catastrophe, as they are often responsible for full or partial charges. In addition, procedures shifted from inpatient to ASC setting. This may further limit access to affordable hand care for uninsured and underinsured patients; METHODS: We queried the Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary to collect the number of procedures, charges, and reimbursements of hand procedures from 2010 to 2019. We adjusted procedural volume by Medicare enrollment and monetary values to the 2019 US dollar. We calculated weighted means of charges and reimbursement that were then used to calculate reimbursement-to-charge ratios (RCRs). We calculated overall change and r2 from 2010 to 2019 for all procedures and stratified by procedural type, service setting, and state where service was rendered; RESULTS: Weighted mean charges, reimbursement, and RCRs changed by + 21.0% (from
UR  - https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/15589447221077367
ER  -