Financial Considerations in Robotic Surgery

Abstract

The adoption of any new technology in surgery or any other field of medicine brings new challenges. There will always be advocates on the cutting edge of innovation, while others will be slower to change. The greatest factors inhibiting the adoption of new technology are the often-higher costs associated with product acquisition and the absence of a formal pathway to best practice and surgical excellence. When robotic surgery was first clinically introduced in late 2000, only about 1000 robotic surgeries were being performed worldwide, and the cost for each procedure was largely prohibitive [1–3]. Among these costs were the cost of the system, instruments, training, and prolonged operative times. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of robotic procedures performed increased from approximately 1000–2000 per year to nearly 450,000 [4]. It is evident that robotic surgery has established itself as a standard of care for certain disease states, yet challenges still arise as the new healthcare environment balances both cost and quality [5–9].