An abstract titled, “Should Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Be Considered and Reimbursed as an Inpatient or an Outpatient Procedure? A Large Data Comparison of Health Care Use and Hospital Charges” was published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS) and subsequently presented at the 2024 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress by authors Ioannis Raftopoulos, MD, FACS, Conner W Pike, MD, Gavin Hui, PhD, and Ioanna Pagani, PhD. Dr. Raftopoulos and Dr. Pagani are affiliated with Holyoke Medical Center, West Hartford, CT. Dr Pike and Dr. Hui are affiliated with Atropos Health.
Short Summary:
This study compared the healthcare resource utilization and costs of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) to inpatient laparoscopic colectomy with ileocolostomy (ILC) and outpatient procedures.There is no consensus as to whether laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) should be considered an inpatient or outpatient procedure. This debate exists between surgeons practicing under different healthcare circumstances and is reinforced by insurance carriers which prefer reimbursement to be according to an outpatient status.
Key Conclusions:
- Healthcare resource use (HRU) and cost of LSG resemble ILC by a ratio of 2:1 compared with common outpatient procedures.
- Outpatient LSG status should not determine reimbursement.
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