A team of researchers, including first author Allen Dobson, PhD, and Joan Davanzo, PhD, set out to determine the extent to which microprocessor knee (MPK) provision to the K2 population is cost effective. A secondary objective was to determine the effectiveness of MPKs at reducing injurious falls within the K2 population.
The retrospective cohort study used Medicare fee-for-service claims data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The data analysis concluded that MPK provision to K2 beneficiaries reduced injured fallers by 18.5 percent, and resulted in medical savings of $1,351 per-member-per-month, amortizing the $25,075 difference between the MPK and nonMPK in 19 months. It also resulted in cumulative Medicare savings of $410.3 million over ten years.
The open-access study, “Retrospective cohort study of the economic value of providing microprocessor knees to the population of Medicare fee-for-service K2 beneficiaries with a knee disarticulation/above knee amputation,” was published in Prosthetics and Orthotics International.
