Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Would You Operate On This Patient? - October 2015 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

Issue link: http://outpatientsurgery.uberflip.com/i/584946

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 64 of 196

failure. These patients demand consistent monitoring, in-home nurs- ing and physical therapy in the days and weeks that follow surgery, care that same-day discharges and non-clinician caregivers can't guar- antee. Here's what you need to know about this sometimes over- looked aspect of total joint surgery. Why home recovery makes sense Discharging total joint patients within hours of their surgeries and, by association, having them start their recoveries at home, offers advan- tages on both economical and clinical fronts. One of the chief aims of the Affordable Care Act — and of Medicare's recently proposed Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement payment model, slated to take effect in select mar- kets in January — is promoting high-quality health care while reducing the costs of that care. One cost-effective tactic that fre- quently delivers value is shortening the lengths of hospital stays, when possible. A hospital stay can cost roughly $2,500 to $3,500 per day, and some- times insurers dictate a hospital stay, but if not, every day earlier that you can safely discharge a patient saves a substantial sum of money. Certainly you could refer patients to a skilled nursing facility, which is a comparative bargain at about $414 per day, but an adequate home recovery model can cost about $62 per day. Home recovery also carries benefits for patient outcomes. Studies show that the longer a patient stays in the hospital, the higher the risk of surgical site infection, so speedy discharge and at-home care might actu- ally reduce the risk of post-op complications as well as hospital readmis- sions. It's providing them with an encouraging shot of motivation, too. It stands to reason that outpatient total joints programs are seeing 6 5 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Would You Operate On This Patient? - October 2015 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine