Orthopaedic Surgeon Shortage Predicted Due to Soaring Joint Replacement Procedures
Two studies find patient demand will soon surpass the number of orthopaedic surgeons available
Las Vegas, NV
In the near future, there may not be enough orthopaedic surgeons to provide joint replacements to all who need them. According to two new studies presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the number of patients requiring hip or knee replacement surgery is likely to soon outpace the number of surgeons who can perform the procedure.
According to a study co-authored by Thomas K. Fehring, M.D., if the number of orthopaedic surgeons able to perform total joint replacements continues at its current rate:
- In 2016, 46 percent of needed hip replacements and 72 percent of needed knee replacements will not be able to be completed.
Joint replacement, also known as arthroplasty, is considered by many to be one of the most successful medical innovations of the 20th century. Total joint replacement is a surgical procedure in which the patient’s natural joint is replaced with an artificial one.
- More than 700,000 primary total hip and knee replacements are performed each year in the United States, and demand for the surgery is expected to double in the next 10 years.
- Projections show that by 2011, more than 50 percent of patients requiring hip replacements will be under the age of 65; the knee-replacement patient population will reach that threshold by 2016.
- For primary total knee replacement, the fastest growing group of patients is in the 45-54 age category; the number of procedures performed in this age group is projected to grow from 59,077 in 2006 to 994,104 (an increase of 17 times) by 2030.
Both researchers believe that the key to stemming this supply-side crisis is for policymakers to reconsider the rates at which total joint replacements are reimbursed. The reimbursement rates have consistently gone down over the years, even as the costs of providing health care have gone up.
However, Dr. Kurtz notes that the possibility of new technologies may offer a glimmer of hope. “It’s hard to predict what changes will come about in the next 20 years,” he says. “Hopefully, we will have some new tools in the future to help address this problem, which could be of epidemic proportions.”
