Hospitals with the highest operating room costs

Operating rooms (ORs) are a critical resource for hospitals as they provide the space and equipment to perform surgeries and other intensive procedures. While ORs typically generate a significant portion of a hospital’s revenue, the OR also tends to be one of the most expensive areas of the hospital.

Here are the hospitals that spend the most money on running their operating rooms.

Top 20 hospitals with the highest total operating room costs

Rank	Hospital Name	City	State	Definitive ID	Operating Room Total Costs	# of Operating Rooms
1	NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center	New York	NY	541974	$647,727,267	37
2	Mayo Clinic Hospital - Saint Mary’s Campus	Rochester	MN	2191	$402,711,444	70
3	Massachusetts General Hospital	Boston	MA	1973	$364,760,696	70
4	Hospital for Special Surgery	New York	NY	2840	$342,021,443	21
5	UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights	San Francisco	CA	560	$316,787,691	28
6	Lenox Hill Hospital	New York	NY	2847	$292,736,008	16
7	Tisch Hospital	New York	NY	2843	$273,562,273	18
8	Houston Methodist Hospital	Houston	TX	4012	$269,419,554	78
9	Stanford Hospital	Stanford	CA	588	$264,577,411	11
10	University Hospital	Ann Arbor	MI	2096	$263,021,315	27
11	Vanderbilt University Medical Center	Nashville	TN	3742	$225,776,639	35
12	Mount Sinai Medical Center	New York	NY	2837	$221,421,542	58
13	Cedars-Sinai Medical Center	Los Angeles	CA	430	$220,947,605	31
14	Yale New Haven Hospital	New Haven	CT	731	$211,753,740	21
15	AdventHealth Orlando	Orlando	FL	873	$210,139,152	20
16	Inova Fairfax Hospital	Falls Church	VA	4271	$205,904,722	39
17	UAB Hospital	Birmingham	AL	71	$203,208,944	22
18	Memorial Hermann - Texas Medical Center	Houston	TX	4018	$187,037,987	39
19	University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center	Houston	TX	4017	$183,464,372	30
20	Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville	Jacksonville	FL	576749	$183,426,290	16

Fig. 1 – Data from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product. Operating room total cost is from the July 2022 Medicare Cost Report. Number of operating rooms is from Provider of Service file and proprietary research. Accessed August 2022.

Which hospitals spend the most on operating room costs?

NewYork Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center spends the most on its ORs, with total operating room costs coming in at nearly $650 million. Mayo Clinic Hospital – Saint Mary’s Campus has the second highest total operating room costs with just over $402 million, and Massachusetts General is in third place with nearly $365 million.

Overall, the 20 hospitals on this list spent nearly $5.5 billion on total operating room costs. The average total operating room costs for hospitals on the list is $274,520,305.

The wide variance in cost per operating room is not driven by any single factor. Some drivers of operating room expense include highly specialized equipment, facility fees, types of surgery performed, and salaries for surgeons and anesthesiologists – all of which can vary greatly between state and even hospital network

Operating room expenses are one of the largest contributors to the total operating expenses for hospitals, and the average tends to be higher in the northeast, which might be why three of the top five hospitals on the list above are in New York and Massachusetts. In fact, NewYork Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center also tops the list of hospitals with the highest total operating expenses.

How many operating rooms do the hospitals with the highest operating room costs have?

The average number of ORs for hospitals on the list is 20. In comparison, the average number of ORs in all active hospitals in the HospitalView product is seven.

Interestingly, the number of ORs does not appear to correlate to higher total operating room costs. Hospitals with as many as 78 operating rooms to as few as 11 are included on the list.

Why do hospitals spend so much money on operating rooms?

The reasons behind why hospitals spend so much on operating rooms can vary. Some of the key expenses for operating rooms include salary costs, supplies, equipment and facility space. ORs require expensive equipment such as operating room tables, anesthesia machines, and other surgical devices that can add to the total hospital spend. Additionally, ORs need to be sanitized frequently for patient safety which can add to the expense.

What is an operating room?

An operating room, sometimes referred to as an OR, operating theater or surgical theater, is an area of a hospital where surgical procedures are carried out in a sterilized environment. An operating room typically contains medicines, equipment, and other supplies that surgeons and anesthesiologists need during an operation. ORs are designed with different specifications to meet the unique needs of a hospital and its patient populations.

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