Methods

A retrospective review of all revision hip and knee surgery between October 2004 and October 2006 was performed. Information was obtained from the notes and theatre log books. Each case was fully costed. The breakdown costs included implant choice, theatre time, length of stay, allograft, blood products and post-operative physiotherapy/OT. The costs were obtained from the hospital financial department and theatre invoices. Payment to the hospital is based on a specific tariff which in turn is determined by coding each patient episode. We individually coded every case, using the OPCS 4.3 coding system, and applied the appropriate tariff. The tariffs that the financial department had applied to each case were also available. A comparison was made between actual costs incurred, the expected reimbursement (from our study coding) and the actual reimbursement received (from finance department).