Preoperative Care Intensity and Cost for Renal Colic: Implications for Surgical Value-Based Reforms

The aim of this study was to identify preoperative patient/facility factors associated with postoperative and total episode-related costs using renal colic as a model surgical condition to improve value-based payment models.

Using state Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project data, we performed a retrospective cohort study examining perioperative costs for individuals presenting to an emergency department for renal colic and who ultimately underwent definitive surgical management. We estimated multivariable ordered and binary logistic regressions to examine the association between preoperative and operative cost quartiles on the probability of specific postoperative cost quartiles after accounting for hospital and individual factors. We also performed logistic regressions to identify patients who deviated from predicted perioperative cost pathways.

Among 2736 individuals included in our analysis, episode-related costs ranged from $4536 (bottom quartile) to $26,662 (top quartile). Individuals in the highest preoperative cost quartile experienced an 11.7% higher probability of remaining in the highest postoperative cost quartile relative to those in the lowest preoperative cost quartile (95% CI, 0.0709-0.163; P < .001). Delays in surgery (95% CI, 0.0869-0.163; P < .001) and Medicaid vs private insurance (95% CI, 0.01-0.0728; P < .01) were associated with a 12.5% and 4.1% higher probability of being in the top quartile of preoperative costs, respectively. Treating facility experience with value-based payment models did not influence perioperative costs.

Using renal colic as a model surgical condition, our novel findings suggest that preoperative costs are associated with both postoperative and total episode-related costs and should be accounted for when designing future value-based payment models.