The Cost of Surgical Complications

Monday, Oct. 29
10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Program Track: Leadership, Personal, and Practice Development
Moderator: Caitlin Darcey
Speaker: Peter C. Fritz

Despite our best efforts, some of our patients will develop post-surgical complications. Complications may present immediately, such as with a post-operative infection, but often they can take months or years to manifest as with peri-implantitis. Given the significant differences in the rate of complications between experienced and inexperienced surgeons, it is in the best interest of the patient to avoid the clinician with the highest complication rate. One way to communicate the severity of the complication is by assigning it a financial cost. Using business-modeling programs that calculate the return on invested capital, it is revealed that using a team approach for patient care not only provides the most predictable and cost-effective outcome for the patient, but is also the most profitable approach for the clinicians involved in the case.

Educational Objectives:
• Recognize that it is economically irresponsible to offer surgical services without factoring the financial cost of potential complications to your practice.
• Develop a framework for categorizing surgical complication types.
• Comprehend that strictly from an economic perspective for all stakeholders, the best strategy for the general dentist is to refer patients for surgical procedures to the clinician with the lowest complication rate. 
• Recognize that the best long-term value for the surgical patient is to incur a higher initial cost to mitigate significant unknown costs at a later time.