The likely economic impact of fewer elective surgical procedures on US hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: To help control the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, elective procedures have been cancelled in most US hospitals by government order. The purpose of this study is to estimate national hospital reimbursement and net income losses owing to elective surgical procedure cancellation during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Methods: The National Inpatient Sample and the Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Sample were used to identify all elective surgical procedures performed in the inpatient setting and in hospital-owned outpatient surgery departments throughout the United States. Total cost, reimbursement, and net income was determined for all elective surgical procedures.

Results: The estimated total annual cost of elective inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures in the United States was $147.2 billion, and estimated total hospital reimbursement was $195.4 to $212.2 billion. This resulted in a net income of $48.0 to $64.8 billion per year to the US hospital system. Cancellation of all elective procedures would result in estimated losses of $16.3 to $17.7 billion per month in revenue and $4 to $5.4 billion per month in net income to US hospitals.

Conclusion: Cancellation of elective procedures during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has a substantial economic impact on the US hospital system.

Fig 1

Aggregate cost, reimbursement, and net income from inpatient and outpatient surgery and minor procedures not requiring an operating room, comparing elective to nonelective cases. (Color version of the figure is available online.) ∗Non-OR = minor procedures not requiring an operating room. OR, operating room.