February 26, 2010
Dr. Dauphiné was invited by the Japanese Society for Replacement Arthroplasty to speak at their annual conference in Okinawa, Japan. He addressed the leading Japanese orthopedic surgeons and many foreign attendees in a talk about the advantages and disadvantages of knee and shoulder surgeries done in out-patient surgery centers. Use of out-patient surgery centers is not yet prevalent in Japan.
Dr. Dauphiné observed that most surgeons in Japan are hospital based thus most surgeries, even out-patient surgeries, are done in general hospitals. Free-standing out-patient surgery centers have yet to gain wide acceptance there. Japanese patients seem more concerned about the expertise of the surgeon and the safety of the facility than cost and time of recovery. This may be due to Japanese national health insurance which controls costs, and employment benefits that allow time for recovery.
American studies have shown that out-patient surgery centers have lower rates of infection, re-operation, post-operative visits to the emergency room, re-admission to the hospital and death occurring within two months of surgery. In addition, studies have shown that out-patient surgery centers provide an average of 56% cost savings over hospital based procedures. The conference attendees were very interested in this information which provided a new frame of reference for patient care.
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