Projects

The interest in, and evidence of the benefits from, anaesthesia-led early high acuity care to extend and enhance the postoperative care provided by Recovery Rooms (PACUs) is increasing. Critical to their acceptance is a good understanding of the economics of this approach.

C-PHEP has committed to supporting the growth in this field through the development of an 'ARRC Network', with the specific goals of supporting: new units through data on business cases and economics;  development of new knowledge in this field; and sharing existing knowledge to guide best practice'.

Whilst general discussions abound on the challenges of healthcare in the future, with ageing co-morbid populations, there are few hard data on specific economic projections.

Led by Dr E Leaman, and in partnership with the American College of Surgeons, C-PHEP is using its perioperative economic models to project future outcomes and resource utilisation after surgery for different populations. 

The cost of complications is an increasingly visible topic. Economic analysis, however, needs to account well for patient journeys, and the impact and cost of locations and modalities of care. Armed with such data, economic modelling can effectively examine the impact of innovation, both on cost and outcomes (value). This is commonplace for therapeutic goods such as medicines and devices, but less common for care bundles. The impact of Advanced Recovery Room Care (ARRC) has been examined through such a process [1] and C-PHEP is now examining other models of care to allow jurisdictions to better understand the impact of changes to the care they provide, especially as their populations shift over time.

Leaman EE, Ludbrook GL. The Cost-Effectiveness of Early High-Acuity Postoperative Care for Medium-Risk Surgical Patients. Anesth Analg. 2024 Aug 1;139(2):323-331. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000006743.