Table 3.
Total costs of all inpatient episodes of care for patients who were waitlisted (1 January 2008 to 31 December 2013) and then underwent primary bariatric surgery in the Tasmanian public hospital system over 8 years for the fiscal years 2007–2008 to 2015–2016 expressed in constant dollars (reference case 2016–2017 = 100), and sensitivity analyses (cost outliers removed)
| Costs | Totals | Totalsa (cost outliers removed) | Totals before surgeryb | Totals after surgeryb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global (n = 105 patients) | ||||
| Episodes of care (n) | 779c | 768c | 278b | 397b |
| Total costs ($) | 6,018,349c,d | 4,749,265 | 1,589,101 | 2,902,043 |
| Cost per episode | 7725 | 6184 | 5716 | 7309 |
| Costs per patient | 57,317 | 45,231 | 15,133 | 27,639 |
| LAGB (n = 89) | ||||
| Episodes of care (n) | 692 | 682a | 219b | 384b |
| Total costs ($) | 5,462,275c,d | 4,266,017a | 1,329,873 | 2,831,034 |
| Cost per episode | 7892 | 6255 | 6072 | 7372 |
| Cost per patient | 61,382 | 47,933 | NA | NA |
| Total cost of primary surgery | 1,301,367d | |||
| Total cost of secondary surgery | 503,234 | |||
| SG (n = 16) | ||||
| Episodes of care (n) | 87c | 86a | 59b | 13b |
| Total costs ($) | 556,074c | 483,249 | 259,228b | 71,008b |
| Cost per episode | 6392 | 5619 | 4394 | 5462 |
| Cost per patient | 34,754 | 30,202 | 16,202 | 4438 |
| Total cost of primary SG surgery (n = 15)c | 225,838 | NA | ||
Primary SG recorded from 2013 to 2014
LAGB laparoscopic adjustable gastric band, LoS length of stay (days), NA not applicable, SG sleeve gastrectomy
Includes all costs (including the cost of primary bariatric surgery)
aTen cost outliers removed for LAGB > $50,000 (namely, $52,749 primary LAGB surgery; $58,143 orthopaedic admission; $57,532 congestive cardiac failure admission LoS 44 days; $62,822 neurology admission LoS 7 days; $62,994 primary LAGB surgery; $95,180 multiple morbidity admission LoS 16 days; $114,878 brain tumour admission LoS 42 days; $136,967 surgical sequelae from primary LAGB surgery; $178,253 multiple morbidity LoS 43 days; and $376,930 multiple morbidity admission LoS 291 days)
bTotals before and after surgery do not include the cost of the primary surgical procedure but do include the cost of the secondary and tertiary surgical sequelae procedures after surgery. Note that SG = 15 for costed primary surgery
cCosts available for 15 SG only (not available for one primary bariatric surgery in 2016–17)
dOne major LAGB cost outlier $376,930 included i.e. multiple morbidity admission LoS 291 days