Reducing Plastic Surgery's Silicone Footprint: Modeling Shipping Costs for Breast Implants and Tissue Expanders

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Medical Device Logistics
• Healthcare Economics

Background:

• Traditional breast augmentation and reconstruction practices involve ordering multiple sizes of implants and tissue expanders (TEs), leading to substantial unused inventory.
• High volumes of unused surgical materials are frequently returned to manufacturers, indicating inefficiencies in the current ordering model.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the significant financial costs associated with shipping implants and TEs used in breast surgeries.
• To analyze the economic impact of current ordering practices on healthcare stakeholders.

Main Methods:

• A cost-modeling approach was employed to estimate annual shipping expenditures.
• Data inputs included annual ordering volumes, shipping rates from courier services and ASPS statistics, and implant/TE dimensions and weights.
• Simulations considered various ordering scenarios, from conservative to extreme, to determine a realistic cost range.

Main Results:

• Annual shipping costs for implants and TEs reached $125.3 million in 2023 when ordering three sizes via overnight shipping.
• Utilizing ground shipping for three sizes reduced costs by 72.5% to $34.5 million.
• Ordering four sizes with overnight shipping increased costs by 38.4% to $173.4 million.

Conclusions:

• Shipping costs for breast implants and TEs represent a substantial financial burden, ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
• These costs impact physician practices, implant manufacturers, and patients, highlighting the need for systemic changes.
• The findings suggest that adopting more cost-effective shipping and inventory management strategies can mitigate waste and reduce overall healthcare expenditures.