What Should Cardiovascular Perfusion Disposables Cost Per Case?

Ask a hospital CFO what a coronary artery bypass graft costs in perfusion disposables — oxygenator, tubing pack, cannulae, filters, cardioplegia delivery — and you will rarely get a number. Ask the same question about a hip implant and you'll get one to the dollar. That asymmetry is the whole problem.

Why per-case disposable cost is the metric that matters

Disposable supplies are the largest controllable line in most cardiovascular perfusion budgets, and unlike labor or capital, they can be renegotiated on a normal contract cycle. A single number — fully loaded disposable cost per case — lets you benchmark, forecast, and negotiate. Without it, you are managing the second-largest cost center in your OR blind.

What a defensible per-case number includes

The common error is pricing the oxygenator alone. A fully loaded number captures everything opened per case, allocated by actual case type — not a blended average that hides your outliers.

What 'good' looks like

There is no single national list price, because contracts, case mix, and bundling differ. But there are reliable patterns: programs that have never benchmarked typically run 15–25% above comparable institutions, and per-case supply cost can vary by 40% or more between two hospitals doing the same operation. The gap is almost never clinical — it is contractual and behavioral.

How to produce the number in two weeks

That prioritized list — item, current price, benchmark, and gap — is the entire basis of a credible renegotiation. It converts a vague sense that "perfusion is expensive" into a specific, defensible savings target.