ABSTRACT
Objectives: Reducing operating theatre time can help hospitals to optimise operational efficiency and effectively allocate scarce resources. Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HOLEP) is an established procedure for the treatment of symptoms secondary to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). It can be performed with Standard Technology (standard HOLEP) or MOSESTM Technology (MOLEP, Boston Scientific Corp). A recent meta-analysis demonstrated significantly reduced operative time with MOLEP vs. standard HOLEP. Our objective is to understand the potential economic impact of reducing theatre time with MOLEP vs. standard HOLEP and potential increases in operational capacity in hospitals in major European DRG-system countries, England, France, Germany and Italy. Method(s): We developed a health economic model to extrapolate theatre time savings reported in the meta-analysis to annual procedure volumes of a theoretical small (1 HOLEP/week), medium (3 HOLEP/week), and large (15 HOLEP/week) hospital. The model allows individual proportions of the time saved to feed into either theatre time cost savings or increased procedure throughput. We used national DRG tariffs and theatre cost per minute to estimate the economic impact. Result(s): Assigning all time savings to the performance of new procedures, small, medium, and large hospitals could perform up to 14, 44, and 229 additional procedures per year, respectively, increasing their procedure volume by 28-29%. In this example, potential revenue gains ranged from 32.573 (small French hospital) to 653.866 (large German hospital), for MOLEP vs. standard HOLEP. For every four procedures performed with MOLEP vs. standard HOLEP, sufficient time was saved to perform an additional procedure. Conclusion(s): Use of MOLEP saves time vs. standard HOLEP. Depending on the hospital aims, this efficiency gain can result in higher cost savings and generate additional revenue for the hospital. Aspects of operative efficiency and workflow improvements should be considered when evaluating the adoption of state-of-the-art medical technologies, especially in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. Copyright © 2022