NacreousFink t1_iqrk5id wrote on October 2, 2022 at 4:12 PM

Reply to comment by BigODetroit in "Robotic surgery is a game changer for minimally invasive surgery" - More and more surgeons are using robotic surgical systems. Here’s why. 🤖 by tonymmorley

The person who opens a surgery center without consulting with the insurance companies who will not allow the more expensive procedure will find himself with a wasted investment.

These systems have been around for more than a decade. Their slow acceptance has everything to do with insurance companies refusing to pay for procedures using them. The surgery centers that did use them were almost all exclusively on the out of network model, which requires much more expensive PPO insurance to cover the procedures.

BigODetroit t1_iqrn5p8 wrote on October 2, 2022 at 4:31 PM

This is the evolution in laparoscopic surgery. Very few of the surgeons in my hospital are doing traditional minimally invasive procedures. The robot is steadier, safer, everyone gets to sit, and the docs get out of the room faster than ever. This is the future.

I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but the trend in healthcare has a lot of regional and local health systems being gobbled up by nationals. My own hospital system is a massive, faceless consortium that threatens insurance companies all the time. Just recently our system decided to no longer accept Meridian over reimbursements.

NacreousFink t1_iqrphy5 wrote on October 2, 2022 at 4:46 PM

There is no question that the robot provides better outcomes. The problem is that it costs $3k-$5k just to open one up to start a procedure. This has to be paid for by someone. Even though healing is easier, less loss of functionality, and chances of infection are lower, the insurers just won't pay for it.

I am not aware of M&A in the regional provider space. Hopefully someone can make the insurers cover this huge advance in medical treatment.