Downstream Revenue Realized by Facilities Placing Inflatable Penile Prosthesis in Medicare Beneficiaries to Treat Erectile Dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE

To quantify the incremental downstream revenue generated from subsequent treatment of men who received an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), compared to men without ED.

METHODS

The 100% Medicare Standard Analytic Files were used to conduct a retrospective claims analysis of the 5-year revenue generated by patients receiving IPP to treat their ED, compared to a propensity-matched cohort of men without ED. Men aged 65 years or older with ED who underwent IPP implantation (Current Procedural Terminology 54405) in a hospital outpatient setting between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2021, and who had continuous Medicare Parts A and B enrollment for 12 months pre-index IPP and 5 years post-index IPP discharge date were included in the study. Men without ED but with comparable characteristics were identified and used as a comparator group. Revenue received by hospitals from Medicare was defined as the sum of payments for patient services, other payor-paid amounts, patient deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. Revenue was inflated to 2022 US dollars. The mean values and their corresponding standard deviations (SD) are reported.

RESULTS

After matching, there were 2905 men with ED who received an IPP and 7462 men without ED. The IPP cohort showed a significantly higher 5-year cumulative revenue (mean=$34,571 [SD=$50,234]) compared to the men without ED (mean=$3189 [SD=$11,527]). When stratified by diagnosis type, the differences in revenue were $10,258 for circulatory disease, $2646 for diabetes, $2013 for urology, and $1043 for prostate cancer. Significantly more IPP patients had at least 1 health encounter for these conditions over the 5-year follow-up period than their matched controls (55.0% vs 7.8% for circulatory, 46.7% vs 16.8% for urology, 19.3% vs 3.6% for diabetes, and 19.0% vs 3.0% for prostate cancer).

CONCLUSION

Men with ED who received IPP generated substantially higher revenue for the healthcare system over a 5-year period, nearly 10 times as much, compared to men without ED, excluding the initial cost of the IPP procedure. The presence of ED, coupled with IPP usage, is associated with significantly increased healthcare revenue across a range of medical conditions compared to men without ED. These findings emphasize the financial implications for advanced ED programs to improve access to necessary care for these patients. Healthcare facilities may leverage these insights to effectively allocate resources to deliver critical healthcare to men with ED.