The number of knee and hip replacements performed in Pennsylvania hospitals increased 38.5 percent between 2004 and 2013, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
Here are seven key findings:
1. In 2013, about one in 200 Pennsylvania residents, aged 20 years and older, underwent total knee or hip replacement. The rate for patients, aged 65 and older, was approximately one in 75 residents.
2. In 2013 about 3.9 percent of knee replacement patients and 4.3 percent of hip replacement patients were readmitted within 30 days.
3. Common reasons for readmission after knee and hip replacement included hematoma and postoperative wound infection as well as dislocation and infection of the prosthetic joint.
4. Western Pennsylvania had the highest hospitalization rate per 10,000 residents for both knee and hip replacements in 2013.
5. In 2012, Medicare fee-for-service payments totaled $146.9 million for knee and hip replacements.
6. In 2012, Medicaid fee-for-service payments totaled $5.09 million for knee and hip replacements.
7. New 2014 data shows complication rates were 2.2 percent for knee replacement patients and 2.8 percent for hip replacement patients.