Twin Cities Orthopedics (TCO), of Golden Valley, Minnesota, which OTW reported in 2012 was providing one-bill knee replacements, is now offering the same program for hip, shoulder and ankle procedures. The program bills patients once for all aspects of the procedure, from medications to the surgery to physical therapy during recovery. Patients recover in suites resembling spas, managed and professionally staffed by Twin Cities Orthopedics instead of in hospitals.
$24k for Hip, $21k for Knee
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Only one Twin Cities insurance company, Medica, is currently covering the cost for the one-bill joint replacement procedures. Twin Cities Orthopedics has performed approximately 50 of the one-bill knee replacement surgeries since inaugurating the system two years ago. CEO Troy Simonson says that a hip replacement procedure at TCO, under the one-bill system, costs about $24, 000 and a knee joint replacement is $21, 000.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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