Table of contents
- Summary
- Introduction
- Laparoscopic cholecystectomy
- Outline of the study
- Canadian data on cholecystectomies
- Sources of data
- Diffusion of laparoscopic cholecystectomy adoption in Canadian hospitals
- Numbers of cholecystectomies performed across Canada, 1987-88 to 1991-92
- Proportion of cholecystectomies performed by laparoscopy and comparative costs
- Credentialing considerations
- Australian data on cholecystectomies
- Methods used
- Numbers and costs of procedures
- Comparison of trends in each country
- Trends in surgery rates
- Impact on costs of health programs
- Impact on costs to patients
- Estimates of proportions of potential savings achieved
- Discussion
- Appendices
- Derivation of estimates for numbers and costs of cholecystectomies undertaken in Canada
- Derivation of estimates of numbers and costs of cholecystectomies in Australia
- Estimates of costs to patients and proportions of potential savings achieved
- Values for costs of laparoscopic cholecystectomies cited in the literature
- References
- Acknowledgments