There is concern that aggressive target pricing in the new Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI-A) penalizes high-performing groups that had achieved low costs through prior experience in bundled payments. We hypothesize that this methodology incorporates unsustainable downward trends on Target Prices and will lead to groups opting out of BPCI Advanced in favour of a traditional fee for service. Using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data, we compared the Target Price factors for hospitals and physician groups that participated in both BPCI Classic and BPCI Advanced (legacy groups), with groups that only participated in BPCI Advanced (non-legacy). With rebasing of Target Prices in 2020 and opportunity for participants to drop out, we compared retention rates of hospitals and physician groups enrolled at the onset of BPCI Advanced with current enrolment in 2020.Aims
Methods
Debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR) remains one option for the treatment of acute periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) despite imperfect success rates. Intraosseous (IO) administration of vancomycin results in significantly increased local bone and tissue concentrations compared to systemic antibiotics alone. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the addition of a single dose of IO regional antibiotics to our protocol at the time of DAIR would improve outcomes. A retrospective case series of 35 PJI TKA patients, with a median age of 67 years (interquartile range (IQR) 61 to 75), who underwent DAIR combined with IO vancomycin (500 mg), was performed with minimum 12 months' follow-up. A total of 26 patients with primary implants were treated for acute perioperative or acute haematogenous infections. Additionally, nine patients were treated for chronic infections with components that were considered unresectable. Primary outcome was defined by no reoperations for infection, nor clinical signs or symptoms of PJI.Aims
Methods
The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) is the largest registry of total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA) procedures performed in the U.S. The National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample (NIS) is a public database containing demographic estimates based on more than seven million hospitalizations annually. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether AJRR data is representative of the national experience with TJA as represented in NIS Cohen's d effect sizes were computed to ascertain the magnitude of differences in demographics, hospital volume (in 50 patient increments), and geographic characteristics between the AJRR and NIS databases.Introduction
Methods
Bundled Payments (BP) were a revolutionary new experiment for CMS that tested whether risk sharing for an episode of care would improve quality and reduce costs. The initial success of BP accelerated their growth as evidence by the launch of both mandatory and commercial bundles. Success in BP is dependent on the target price and the opportunity to reduce avoidable costs during the episode of care. There is concern that the aggressive target pricing methodology in the new model (BPCI-Advanced) penalizes high performing groups that already achieved low episode costs through prior experience and investment in BP. We hypothesize that this methodology incorporates unsustainable downward trends on target prices to a point beyond reasonableness for efficient groups to reduce additional costs and will lead to a large percentage of groups opting out of BPCI-A in favor of a return to fee for service (FFS) reimbursement. Using CMS data, we compared the target price factors for hospitals that participated in both BPCI classic (2013 –2018) and BPCI Advanced (beginning 10/2018), referred to as “legacy hospitals”, with hospitals that only participated in BPCI Advanced (beginning 10/2018). With the rebasing of BPCI-A target prices in Jan 2020 and the opportunity for participants to drop out of individual episode types or the program all together, we compared the retention of episode types that hospitals initially enrolled at the onset of BPCI-A with the current enrollment in 2020. Locally, we analyzed the BPCI-A target price factors across hospitals for a large orthopaedic practice that participated in BPCI Classic and the impact it had on the financial incentive/disincentive to remain in the lower extremity joint replacement episode type in 2020.Introduction
Methods
The COVID-19 pandemic caused an abrupt disruption in fellowship training, with most in-person teaching ceasing in mid-March 2020. An online lecture series was quickly initiated named the Fellows Online COVID-19 AAHKS Learning (FOCAL) initiative. This study will summarize the results of that initiative. Beginning March 31, 2020, an online teaching program was initiated. Adult reconstruction fellows and senior residents with interest in adult reconstruction were invited to participate in the free, live, online education sessions. Faculty from well-respected training institutions from around the country volunteered their time to host the initiative, choosing topics to present, ranging from hip (13 lectures) and knee (9), to practice management/miscellaneous (12). All sessions were recorded and posted on the society website for viewing. Attendee registrations were tracked via the online platform and the maximum number of attendees per session was recorded. A survey was administered to attendees for feedback.Background
Methods
Debridement, Antibiotics and Implant Retention (DAIR) remains the norm for the treatment of acute periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) despite less than optimal success rates. Intraosseous (IO) administration of vancomycin has been shown to have significantly increased local bone and tissue concentrations compared to systemic antibiotics, with lower systemic antibiotic levels compared to intravenous. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if the addition of IO regional antibiotics to our protocol at the time of DAIR would improve outcomes. A retrospective review of 35 PJI TKA patients who underwent DAIR combined with IO vancomycin (500mg) was performed with minimum 12-month follow-up. 26 patients were treated for acute perioperative or acute hematogenous infections following primary TKA. Nine were treated for chronic infections with components that were considered unresectable (ie) constructs with ingrown cones, sleeves, or long cemented stems in elderly comorbid patients. Primary outcome was defined by no reoperations for infection nor clinical signs or symptoms of PJI.Introduction
Methods
Two-stage exchange arthroplasty is the most common definitive treatment for prosthetic joint infection (PJI) in the USA. Complications that occur during treatment are often not considered. The purpose of this study was to analyze complications in patients undergoing two-stage exchange for infected total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and determine when they occur. We analyzed all patients that underwent two-stage exchange arthroplasty for treatment of PJI of the knee from January 2010 to December 2018 at a single institution. We categorized complications as medical versus surgical. The intervals for complications were divided into: interstage; early post-reimplantation (three months); and late post-reimplantation (three months to minimum one year). Minimum follow-up was one year. In total, 134 patients underwent a first stage of a two-stage exchange. There were 69 males and 65 females with an mean age at first stage surgery of 67 years (37 to 89). Success was based on the new Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) definition of success reporting.Aims
Methods
Two-stage exchange arthroplasty remains the gold standard for treatment of PJI with reported success rates of 85–90%. Complications that occur during treatment are often not reported or considered in the success rate. The purpose of this study was to analyze complications in patients undergoing two-stage exchange and determine when they occur. We analyzed all patients that underwent two-stage exchange arthroplasty for treatment of chronic PJI of the knee from 2010 to 2018. We categorized complications as medical vs. surgical. The intervals for complications were divided into: interstage, early post re-implant (3 months) and late post re-implant (3 months to minimum 1 year). Minimum follow-up to evaluate complications was one year.Introduction
Methods
The aim of this study was to observe the implications of withholding total joint arthroplasty (TJA) in morbidly obese patients A total of 289 morbidly obese patients with end-stage osteoarthritis were prospectively followed. There were 218 women and 71 men, with a mean age of 56.3 years (26.7 to 79.1). At initial visit, patients were given information about the risks of TJA in the morbidly obese and were given referral information to a bariatric clinic. Patients were contacted at six, 12, 18, and 24 months from initial visit.Aims
Patients and Methods
Morbid obesity (BMI>40) is a significant risk factor for complications following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). As such many have a restrictive practice of withholding elective primary TJA in the morbidly obese. The purpose of this study was to observe the implications of this practice. From 2012 to 2014, 289 patients with morbid obesity and end-stage OA of the hip or knee were prospectively followed. At initial visit, patients were given a packet on risks of TJA in the morbidly obese and referral information to a weight loss clinic. Patients were contacted at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months from initial visit for PROs, and BMI changes. The average age of patients was 56 (26.7–79.1) there were 218 females and 71 males.Introduction
Methods
