Intuitive Surgical touts cost study on robot-assisted prostate surgery

Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG) is touting a study comparing the cost of prostate surgery using its da Vinci robot-assisted surgery device with traditional open surgery.

The study, published in the journal Value in Health, assessed hospital costs, payers’ expenditures and societal expenses related to each procedure. The results showed that the robot-assisted surgery delivered shorter hospital stays, lower complication rates and faster returns to work compared with open procedures.

That meant the costs were $1,094 lower for hospitals and $1,451 lower for payers for the robotic procedure; the societal costs were $1,202 lower, according to the study.

“Higher surgical consumable costs are offset by a decreased hospital stay, lower complication rate, and faster return to work,” according to the study.

“It is clear that the adoption of robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy eases the financial burden of prostate cancer on our healthcare system,” lead author Dr. Ashutosh Tewari, of New York City’s Mount Sinai Health System, said in prepared remarks. “As the healthcare providers strive to improve both patient outcomes and achieve greater value, this data shows that technologies like the da Vinci Surgical System can simultaneously deliver cost-effective treatment and care that can make surgery easier on patients.”

Calculated as hospital overhead, the RALP savings were $1,094; calculated using the annual volume of robotic procedures, RALP surgeries added $341 in extra costs, demonstrating that the higher cost of the actual procedure are offset by savings from better outcomes and shorter hospital stays, the company said.

“This study further demonstrates that hospital administrators need to look beyond visible operating room costs when analyzing the robotic-assisted surgery value proposition,” added chief medical officer Dr. Myriam Curet. “The ability of robotic-assisted surgery to reduce complications and shorten hospital stays, undoubtedly leads to greater value for patients and healthcare providers.”

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