Customized Knee Implants Drive Significant Cost Savings in a Medicare Population – Abstract Presented at Annual Knee Society Meeting
12-month average spending was $1,697 less for Medicare Fee for Service members who received customized implants compared to members who received standard off-the-shelf implants
BILLERICA, Mass., Feb. 18, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Conformis Inc. (NASDAQ:CFMS), a medical technology company that uses its proprietary iFit Image-to-Implant technology platform to develop, manufacture and sell joint replacement implants customized to fit each patient’s unique anatomy, today announced results from a presented at the Knee Society Meeting, entitled “Customized Knee Implants Drive Cost Savings in a Medicare Population”. The abstract was presented by Mary O'Connor, MD, Director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health. The study, which can be found at , reported overall spending on Medicare Fee for Service (FFS) patients was significantly less when treated with Conformis customized individually made (CIM) knee implants vs. standard off-the-shelf (OTS) implants.
which was conducted by researchers at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause (Baker Tilly) and , identified 739 CIM and 228,697 OTS TKA patients using a defined selection criteria. After conducting propensity score matching to ensure both study cohorts had similar baseline demographic, comorbidity profiles, and were from the same geographic regions of the US, a total of 4,434 TKA patients (739 CIM and 3,695 OTS) were selected for analysis. The analysis showed that overall episode of care expenditures were $1,697 less for CIM patients ($18,585) than for OTS patients ($20,280) (p<0.0001) resulting in $0.08 per-member-per-month savings. The study had been accepted for publication and is tentatively expected to be available online in March 2019.
“Previous studies have shown Conformis CIM implants improve numerous clinical outcomes, such as function and alignment, compared to OTS implants. This is the first time the economic impact of utilizing CIM vs. OTS implants has been analyzed within the Medicare FFS population long-term,” said lead researcher “The largest reductions in episode spending were associated with Conformis CIM patients who had overall fewer costs associated with the procedure and hospital stay as well as their post-acute care needs.”
Costs analyzed include reimbursement for the initial procedure, pre-operative CT scan, and 12-month post-operative healthcare utilization. Savings were driven mainly by a lower average initial procedure cost and lower post-operative spending for inpatient services and skilled nursing facility costs.
“Total knee arthroplasty is one of the highest categories of spending in the Medicare fee-for-service program and is projected to exceed three million procedures annually by 2030,” said Mark Augusti, chief executive officer and president of Conformis. “These results are not only significant for providers looking to save money long-term, but also for payers looking for high quality care in episode-of-care and/or in value-based contracting models.
Disclosure: Dr. O’Connor conducts research on Conformis implants for which her institution receives research support from Conformis, Inc. Dr. O’Connor does not receive any personal compensation from Conformis, Inc.
About Conformis, Inc.
Conformis is a medical technology company that uses its proprietary iFit Image-to-Implant technology platform to develop, manufacture and sell joint replacement implants that are designed and manufactured to fit and conform to each patient’s unique anatomy. Conformis offers a broad line of patient conforming total and partial knee systems and a hip system that include sterilized single-use instruments delivered in a single package to the hospital. Conformis owns or exclusively in-licenses issued patents and pending patent applications that cover patient-specific implants and instrumentation for all major joints. In clinical studies, Conformis iTotal CR demonstrated superior clinical outcomes, including better function and greater patient satisfaction, compared to traditional, off-the-shelf implants.
For more information, visit To receive future releases in e-mail alerts, sign up at .
About
Baker Tilly is a nationally recognized, full-service accounting and advisory firm. Baker Tilly's healthcare practice is comprised of consulting (including health economists), tax and audit professionals, that work with hundreds of hospitals, health systems, health plans and life science companies developing growth strategies.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release about our future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as other statements containing the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” or “would” and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from the projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make as a result of a variety of risks and uncertainties, including risks related to amounts of potential cost savings, and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” sections of our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views as of the date hereof. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments may cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.
Media Contact:
Lisa Donnelly
Investor Contact:
(781) 374-5598
