Joint venture: What a new hip or knee really costs (MarketWatch)
Patients’ jaws drop when Dr. Steven Schutzer tells them it takes a whole year to heal after knee or hip replacement surgery.
Schutzer, director of the Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, isn’t saying it takes that long for people to get up and functioning. He just means that full healing of the soft tissue and bone generally takes 12 months or more.
Still, the patient might not care about this clinical definition, wondering only when he’ll be able to hit the slopes again. Suddenly, the impatient patient may find himself unexpectedly inactive—or, at the other end of the spectrum, pushing his new joint too hard, too soon.
This is one example of why it’s so important for patients to communicate their expectations for elective surgery, experts say: A mismatch between expectations and reality can lead to patient dissatisfaction, not to mention a waste of money for both patients and the health system overall.
Artificial joints are becoming more common as the boomer generation ages.
“Making a decision for joint replacement isn’t something you do in five minutes...
