Economic Impact of SDD
The one-way economic sensitivity analysis demonstrated potential cost savings for each hospital, which increased as more patients were discharged home the same day. Procedural costs (e.g . lab time, lab staff, equipment cost) are the same for SDD and ONS groups; therefore, the difference in hospital costs between the groups was dependent on utilization of hospital resources post ablation. Patients observed overnight increased the hospital costs independent of the procedure. Since the West Coast hospital had the highest inpatient costs, they would benefit the most from SDD. Discharging patients the same day may also improve hospital throughput via increased availability of cardiac telemetry beds that could be occupied by additional patients. SDD protocols may also contribute to increased hospital capacity. From a patient’s perspective, outpatient procedures contribute to early ambulation, increased patient comfort, and early return to work, which may also improve patient satisfaction.