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Total Joints: Bundled Payments Driving Procedural Innovation

Manufacturers bracing for CMS' new mandatory bundled payment program for total hip and knee replacement surgery may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as hospitals are expected to target post-acute-care rather than implants to bring down costs. Amid these changes, orthopedic manufacturers are helping hospitals address bundled payments by developing innovative solutions that improve procedural efficiencies, recovery times, costs and patient outcomes, including outpatient total joint surgery, robotics, custom implants, and patient-specific instrumentation.

Last year, the musculoskeletal industry was rocked by a wave of consolidation when major orthopedic heavyweights combined forces. First, Zimmer merged with Biomet in a deal valued at $13.35 billion, and Wright Medical Group Inc. teamed up with Tornier NV in a $3.3 billion all-stock transaction. [See Deal][See Deal] Now that the aftershocks have subsided and the industry has largely recovered, the topic at this year’s American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting in Orlando turned to the impact new government initiatives, with the mantra of improving quality and reducing costs, would have on the delivery of orthopedic care. More specifically, the conversation centered on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') new bundled payment program called the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model (CCJR)

. Starting on April 1, around 800 hospitals in 67 metropolitan statistical areas began participating in the program, which makes...

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