OBJECTIVES: Innovative rehabilitative methods following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) aim to reduce healthcare resource utilization and the associated costs while maintaining or improving care. This analysis aimed to quantify the potential cost savings of a smartphone-based care platform compared with traditional care in adult patients undergoing TKA in a US integrated healthcare delivery system (IDS).

METHODS:: A cost comparison model was developed to compare 90-day post-acute TKA episode-of-care (EOC) costs for patients receiving the smartphone-based platform versus traditional in-person physical therapy (PT). For each healthcare resource use event modeled, a 90-day post-acute EOC cost for the intervention and comparator was calculated based on the proportion of patients experiencing ≥1 event over the 90-day time horizon, the mean number of events per patient experiencing ≥1 event, and the unit cost of that event. The 90-day post-acute EOC costs for each event were summed for each arm in the model and overall costs compared on the per patient level.

RESULTS: Overall post-acute care costs per patient with the smartphone-based care platform were $1,579 compared with $2,203 for traditional care, yielding cost savings of $625 per patient in the 90-day EOC following TKA. The results were robust to one and two-way sensitivity analyses, and the smartphone-based care platform demonstrated greater cost savings in two scenario analyses exploring alternative parameters.

CONCLUSIONS: The smartphone-based care platform led to meaningful and robust cost savings when compared with traditional in-person PT derived predominately from the reduced costs associated with avoidance of in-person PT.