Clinical Outcomes and Financial Impact of a POEM Program at a Rural Tertiary Medical Center: Our First Five Years.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to assess the 5-year impact of a per oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) program on both clinical and financial outcomes for our hospital system and the rural community we serve.

METHODS

We evaluated the clinical and financial outcomes of all patients who underwent POEM for achalasia. Patients were also contacted by phone to complete the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease-Health Related Quality of Life (GERD-HRQL) questionnaire postoperatively. Financial data for all robot-assisted laparoscopic Heller myotomy patients from our institution during the same period were also obtained for cost comparison.

RESULTS

A total of 107 patients underwent POEM in the first 5 years following program implementation, with a mean age of 61.4 ± 17.9 years. There were 75 patients (70%) who participated in the GERD-HRQL survey at a mean follow-up of 84 weeks (range, 6 to 244 weeks). There were 88.2% of respondents who reported no or minimal dysphagia symptoms, and 93.4% of respondents reported no or minimal reflux symptoms. On postoperative upper endoscopy, 19.1% of patients had esophagitis. Implementation of the POEM program resulted in a substantial increase in case volume, growing from 5 myotomy cases per year to 24 myotomy cases per year after 2017. Cost analysis demonstrated a significantly lower index encounter cost for POEM compared with robot-assisted laparoscopic Heller myotomy of approximately $6,000.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the effectiveness and positive financial impact for both our community and hospital system following implementation of a POEM program at a tertiary medical center serving a large, rural population.