The usefulness of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery concepts for colorectal resections: an economic analysis under DRG conditions

PURPOSE: ERAS® (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) describes a multimodal, interdisciplinary, and interprofessional treatment concept that optimizes the postoperative convalescence of the patient through the use of evidence-based measures. Goal of the work. The aim of this article is to examine the economic feasibility of the ERAS® concept in the German DRG (diagnosis-related groups) system. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Since August 2019, patients have been treated in our clinic according to the later certified ERAS® concept. The last 50 patients before ERAS® implementation are compared below with 50 patients after ERAS® implementation, who were identified using a matched pair analysis. In addition to the comparison of costs and revenues, the clinical outcome of the patients is also presented. RESULTS: The cases of the patients in the pre-ERAS® cohort caused median costs of € 7432.83. BWR (valuation ratio) of 3.38 were billable. The resulting DRG revenue for the patients in this group amounted to € 11,325.78. The proceeds generated in the end amounted to € 4575.14. The cases of patients in the ERAS® cohort resulted in costs of € 5582.96. BWR of 2.84 could be billed. The DRG proceeds for the patients in this group therefore amounted to € 10,014.18. The profit generated was thus € 4993.84. CONCLUSION: The cost reduction generated by ERAS® was more pronounced than the “loss” due to the decrease in BWR. ERAS® is therefore also possible in the German DRG system at absolutely cost-covering levels.