Total hip arthroplasty in Belgium: the contribution of a social health insurer to the debate

Acta Orthop Belg. 2014 Sep;80(3):348-56.

Abstract

This study describes current clinical practice and outcomes of Total Hip Arthroplasty in Belgian hospitals. Orthopaedic registries concentrate on implant related analyses and sometimes on patient reported outcomes. Our aim was to describe the extent and to generate hypotheses about the determinants of the variability of health care practices and of prosthesis survival in Belgium. Only unilateral elective primary Total Hip Arthroplasties were included. Length of stay, costs, transfusion rates and other care activities were analysed over 2008 and 2009 together. Prosthesis survival was studied using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression hazard ratio computations over the period 2000-2009. 36798 elective Total Hip Arthroplasties have been included in a study of all members of the Belgian Christian Sickness Fund. The non-standardised ten year Total Hip Arthroplasty survival rate is 93% (Kaplan-Meier). Quality has progressed notably compared with 10 years earlier. Important variations still persist though between hospitals, for all studied indicators.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / economics
  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / methods*
  • Belgium
  • Benchmarking
  • Blood Transfusion / economics
  • Blood Transfusion / statistics & numerical data
  • Cohort Studies
  • Critical Care / economics
  • Critical Care / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Health Care Costs*
  • Hip Prosthesis*
  • Humans
  • Insurance Carriers
  • Insurance, Health*
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Length of Stay / economics
  • Length of Stay / statistics & numerical data
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • National Health Programs
  • Physical Therapy Modalities / economics
  • Physical Therapy Modalities / statistics & numerical data
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Prosthesis Failure
  • Quality of Health Care
  • Registries*
  • Reoperation
  • Retrospective Studies