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Updated: Mar 3, 2026
Murine Ileocolic Bowel Resection with Primary Anastomosis
Published on: October 29, 2014
An economic evaluation of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) multisite implementation program for colorectal
Nguyen X. Thanh1, Anderson W. Chuck, Tracy Wasylak
1From the Institute of Health Economics, Edmonton, Alta. (Thanh, Chuck); Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alta. (Wasylak, Lawrence, Faris); the Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Surgery, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden (Ljungqvist); the Department of Oncology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alta. (Nelson); the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta. (Gramlich).
Background:
In February 2013, Alberta Health Services established an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) implementation program for adopting the ERAS Society colorectal guidelines into 6 sites (initial phase) that perform more than 75% of all colorectal surgeries in the province. We conducted an economic evaluation of this initiative to not only determine its cost-effectiveness, but also to inform strategy for the spread and scale of ERAS to other surgical protocols and sites.
Methods:
We assessed the impact of ERAS on patients’ health services utilization (HSU; length of stay [LOS], readmissions, emergency department visits, general practitioner and specialist visits) within 30 days of discharge by comparing pre- and post-ERAS groups using multilevel negative binomial regressions. We estimated the net health care costs/savings and the return on investment (ROI) associated with those impacts for post-ERAS patients using a decision analytic modelling technique.
Results:
We included 331 pre- and 1295 post-ERAS patients in our analyses. ERAS was associated with a reduction in all HSU outcomes except visits to specialists. However, only the reduction in primary LOS was significant. The net health system savings were estimated at $2 290 000 (range $1 191 000–$3 391 000), or $1768 (range $920–$2619) per patient. The probability for the program to be cost-saving was 73%–83%. In terms of ROI, every $1 invested in ERAS would bring $3.8 (range $2.4–$5.1) in return.
Conclusion:
The initial phase of ERAS implementation for colorectal surgery in Alberta is cost-saving. The total savings has the potential to be more substantial when ERAS is spread for other surgical protocols and across additional sites.
