How do awake laryngology procedures in an endoscopy suite (ES) compare with like procedures performed in the operating room (OR) in terms of costs, charges, reimbursement, and efficiency?
Background: Office-based laryngology procedures have a favorable cost comparison with their OR counterparts. Although these comparisons are enticing, surgeon reimbursement rates for office-based procedures do not reliably cover associated clinic costs, pushing physicians back to the OR setting. Another alternative is to perform unsedated injection laryngoplasty (IL) and laser treatment (LT) of vocal fold lesions in a hospital-based ES facility.
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June 2016Study design: Retrospective review of billing records comparing ES injection laryngoplasty and laser excision procedures and matched case controls in the OR.
Setting: Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.