Design: Retrospective cohort study

Setting: Hospital-based gynecology-only practice with an FMIGS fellowship

Patients or Participants: Data from patients who underwent in office hysteroscopy between August 2022-March 2023 was collected. The cost of hysteroscopy cases that were completed in the hospital operating room during this same time-frame was provided by the hospital billing department.

Interventions: N/A

Measurements and Main Results:

69 patients underwent office hysteroscopy between July 25, 2022 and March 6, 2023 with 5 providers. Based upon the billed CPT codes, 62.3% of procedures were performed for endometrial polyps, 21.7% for difficult IUD removals, 8.7% were diagnostic only and 7.2% for lysis of adhesions. Performing office hysteroscopy costs approximately $700 per procedure. The average reimbursements ranged from $1,843.00-$7666 ( average $5,802), depending on patients’ insurance provider. In comparison, hysteroscopies which were performed at the same hospital but in the operating room cost upwards of$5000 per procedure, with an average reimbursement of $8,068. Office hysteroscopy reduced health care cost by ~$4300/procedure, while increasing overall profit by ~$2,000/procedure.

Conclusion: In the setting of increasing financial strain within healthcare systems, optimizing the efficient use of hospital resources is imperative to the growth and success of gynecology practices. In this hospital-based gynecology practice, office hysteroscopies decrease the overall cost to the healthcare system while increasing overall profit, when performed on appropriate patients. This also has the potential to improve OR utilization for more complex cases. More analysis from other practice models needs to be collected to see if these financial benefits are also seen in office-based and private practices.