Business Articles in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Support Outpatient Total Shoulder Arthroplasty and Identify Factors Impacting Surgery Cost

Objectives: Review business related shoulder and elbow articles in tope general orthopaedic journals and compare to top shoulder and elbow subspecialty journals. Design: Literature review. Intervention: General orthopaedic vs subspecialty journals. Main outcome measurement: Publication type, subject, methods Results: There were a total of 21 shoulder and elbow related business articles across JBJS, B&JJ, CORR, and AAOS during the study time period. That accounts for 0.3% of total publications (21/6098) and 8% of the business publications (21/261) in these journals over this 5 year span. Shoulder and elbow business publications accounted for a wide range of editorial space, ranging from 0% of CORR business publications to 11% of BJ&J publications. Across the five shoulder and elbow surgery journals of interest, there were 57 business related articles published for the 5-year duration. The Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery accounted for 77% of these publications (44/57). Business articles represented 0.8% of articles in the fine shoulder and elbow publications (57/7155) over the study time period. Conclusions:  This analysis demonstrates the tendency of shoulder and elbow oriented orthopaedic journals to publish a higher percentage of business articles related to shoulder and elbow surgery compared to general orthopaedics journal. The composition of these business articles demonstrates the recent focus on cost analysis of outpatient shoulder arthroplasty as well as factors that drive cost of shoulder and elbow procedures. The subject of shoulder and elbow business related articles in these journals over the last 5 years demonstrates that this field is increasingly interested in outpatient procedures and identifying ways to safely improve cost efficiency. Level of Evidence: IV review Keywords: Orthopaedic business, shoulder and elbow, cost, value based care, finance, shoulder arthroplasty, total shoulder. (J Ortho Business 2022; Volume 2, Issue 3:pages 18-31)