The Orthopaedic Surgical Research Group do health economic analyses of the consequences of changing procedures for orthopaedic surgical patients.

The group commands specialist expertise within cost-of-illness, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility and cost-benefit analyses. Furthermore, the group demands software for decision analysis by means of decision trees or Markov models.

Currently, the group is doing cost-efficacy and cost-effectiveness analyses of the introduction of new post-surgical rehabilitation procedures for patients who have undergone hip or knee ímplant operation.

The health economic analyses are made in a society economic and a class economic perspektive. This is particularly relevant because the Danish health services are split into a primary and a secondary sector. This makes it necessary to examine wheter it is optimal for society to introduce accelerated patient courses. A quick discharge of the patient can be of benefit to the hospital but may be a strain on the patient or the municipality. It is also interesting to know whether a post-surgical effort before a hip or knee replacement is of benefit to the patient and/or the hospital and whether the hospital or the municipality should pay for the new costs.