The Cost of Mobility: Uncovering Global Cost Disparities in Hip Replacements

For many patients, hip replacement has been a key modality for mobility. Rising hip problems due to falls and fractures potentiate the need of hip replacement therapy. Hip replacement, a major orthopedic therapy, involves high costs that are different across various countries. The high cost determined percent adoption of surgery in that particular country. To bypass high cost, people go for prior authorization, but it does not make any difference in the cost.

"The prior authorization process and the steps a patient has to go through do not help save costs in the year prior to surgery," said Chad A. Krueger, MD, FAAOS, orthopaedic surgeon, Rothman Orthopaedics in Philadelphia.

Beyond this scenario, there are large cost differences for hip replacement across the globe. This variance depicts the demand as well as accessibility to orthopedic devices for hip replacement in those countries. The graph below represents the hip replacement costs by country, highlighting the differences with respect to cost as well as medical care within a healthcare facility.

Graph: Hip Replacement Cost, By Country

Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information and Straits Analysis

Key Takeaways:

• A notable variation in cost of hip replacement in countries such as Bangladesh and U.S. reflects economic disparities and differences in healthcare systems.
• High hip replacement costs in countries such as U.S., Japan, and Austria limits the accessibility for domestic patients and approach of international patients for the replacement therapy in these countries.
• Countries such as UK, and Mexico have moderate costs which potentially highlights cost-effectiveness as well as services with a better healthcare system.
• Countries such as Bangladesh, Hungary, and Poland put ahead a very low-cost hip replacement. This low-cost potentiates the demand for hip replacement surgeries in an affordable manner.

Cost Disparities Bridging the Gap Between Affordability in Cost and Effectiveness in Care

• Countries with lower hip replacement costs, such as India, Spain, and Poland, are likely to see increased medical tourism and domestic procedure rates with affordable cost of hip replacement.
• Countries with moderate hip replacement costs such as UK, Singapore, and Mexico are supposed to have a pool of domestic hip replacement procedures, owing to mid-range costs and associated better patient care in a better healthcare infrastructure.
• In contrast, countries with high hip replacement cost pose a major challenge of equal accessibility at domestic level and a conservative approach by the patients from low-and-middle income countries, despite of highly efficient healthcare system.
• The overall demand for hip replacement is likely to be high in countries with affordable costs, such as India, and Spain, followed by countries with moderate costs, such as UK and Mexico, and lastly, countries with high costs, such as U.S. and Japan.

“We are dedicated to prioritizing the well-being of our patients and ensuring that they have access to the best possible medical treatments,” said GPHC’s Chief Executive Officer Robbie Rambarran.