Elective versus nonelective brain tumor resections: a 5-year propensity score matching cost comparison analysis

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Health Economics
• Hospital Administration

Background:

• Elective surgical cases typically incur lower costs and yield higher profit margins than nonelective cases.
• Understanding these economic disparities is crucial for hospital financial resilience, particularly during pandemics that necessitate the cancellation of elective procedures.
• This study specifically examines supratentorial tumor resections to quantify cost and profit differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the precise differences in cost and profit margins between elective and nonelective supratentorial tumor resections.
• To provide data that can inform hospital strategies for managing financial challenges.

Main Methods:

• Economic analysis of all supratentorial tumor resections performed between January 2014 and December 2018 at a single institution.
• Classification of cases into elective and nonelective groups.
• Application of propensity score matching to control for baseline characteristic heterogeneity between groups.

Main Results:

• A total of 143 elective and 232 nonelective cases were analyzed.
• Elective cases had significantly lower total charges ($168,800.12) compared to nonelective cases ($254,839.30).
• Profit margins for elective cases were approximately six times higher than for nonelective cases ($13,025.28 vs $2,128.01).

Conclusions:

• Elective supratentorial tumor resections demonstrate substantially lower costs and higher profitability compared to nonelective procedures.
• Shorter lengths of stay were also observed in elective cases.
• These findings support the development of financial strategies for hospitals to mitigate losses during public health emergencies.