Stryker launches expensive Mako robot for knee replacement in cost-conscious era (MedCityNews)
As value-based care and bundled payments begin to take hold in the orthopedics industry and healthcare overall, Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Stryker is doing something counterintuitive.
It is launching an expensive piece of equipment. Coinciding with the first day of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedics Surgeons (AAOS) in San Diego, the orthopedics company announced Tuesday that the MAKO robot is now officially launched in the U.S. to perform total knee replacements. (MAKO has been available to perform total hip knee replacements and partial knees in the U.S. up until now.)
Why introduce a reportedly million-dollar piece of new technology at a time when hospitals and orthopedics practices are racing to reduce the cost of hip and knee replacements?
In a phone interview, Stuart Simpson, vice president and general manager, Stryker, shared his confidence that the Mako robot with the total knee application would have both clinical and economic benefits that hospitals would find compelling.
To step back a bit, Stryker made a bold acquisition of Mako for nearly $1.65 billion i...
