Addressing stakeholders' needs: economics and patient satisfaction

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Pain Management
• Patient Satisfaction

Background:

• Acute post-operative pain management presents complex economic considerations for healthcare systems.
• Understanding cost drivers and the economic impact of undertreated pain is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the economics of acute post-operative pain management.
• To identify cost drivers and economic consequences of inadequate pain treatment.
• To compare the costs of different analgesia methods and address medication errors.

Main Methods:

• Review of studies on cost drivers in post-operative pain treatment.
• Analysis of economic sequelae of undertreated pain.
• Description of relative costs for various analgesia delivery methods.

Main Results:

• Pharmacy acquisition costs are a small fraction (approx. 1%) of total surgical treatment costs.
• Staff time is a significant cost driver in analgesia provision.
• Inadequate pain management increases patient morbidity, hospital stay duration, and readmission rates.

Conclusions:

• Accurate assessment of post-operative pain management economics is challenging.
• Undertreatment of acute post-operative pain has significant negative economic implications.
• Poor pain management negatively affects patient satisfaction, a growing metric for health systems.