The bulk of the cost of TKRs is post operative followup - Dr. Bill Hunter on BoneChat #49
In this segment of the BoneChat podcast, Dr. Bill Hunter explains that Medicare’s annual spending on total knee replacements (TKRs) is heavily weighted toward postoperative care rather than the surgical procedure itself. While roughly $5 billion is spent on the creation of knee patients—covering surgeon fees and implant costs—about $15 billion is allocated to after‑care. The after‑care costs are driven by a “grab bag” of services such as X‑rays, MRIs, home‑health visits, emergency‑room visits, and hospital readmissions. Notably, ER visits and readmissions are the largest expense categories, and 70 % of Medicare TKR patients receive home‑care visits, which alone cost at least twice as much as all complications combined. The overall message is that postoperative follow‑up, not the surgery itself, dominates the financial burden of TKRs for Medicare.
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