Improving value in primary total joint arthroplasty care pathways: changes in inpatient physical therapy staffing.
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ABSTRACT: Background
An early physical therapy (PT) care pathway was implemented to provide same-day ambulation after total joint arthroplasty by changing PT staffing hours.Methods
After receiving an exemption from our institutional review board, we performed a secondary data analysis on a cohort of patients that underwent primary TJA of the hip or knee 6 months before and 12 months after implementation of the change. Data on same-day ambulation rates, length of stay (LOS), and in-hospital costs were reviewed.Results
Early evaluation and mobilization of patients by PT improved on postoperative day (POD) 0 from 64% to 85% after the change (P ? .001). The median LOS before the change was 3.27 days compared to 3.23 days after the change (P = .014). Patients with higher American Society of Anesthesiologists scores were less likely to ambulate on POD 0 (P = .038) and had longer hospital stays (P < .001). Early mobilization in the entire cohort was associated with a greater cost savings (P < .001).Conclusions
A relatively simple change to staffing hours, using resources currently available to us, and little additional financial or institutional investment resulted in a significant improvement in the number of patients ambulating on POD 0, with a modest reduction in both LOS and inpatient costs.
SUBMITTER: Pelt CE
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5365407 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Improving value in primary total joint arthroplasty care pathways: changes in inpatient physical therapy staffing.
Pelt Christopher E CE Anderson Mike B MB Pendleton Robert R Foulks Matthew M Peters Christopher L CL Gililland Jeremy M JM
Arthroplasty today 20160408 1
<h4>Background</h4>An early physical therapy (PT) care pathway was implemented to provide same-day ambulation after total joint arthroplasty by changing PT staffing hours.<h4>Methods</h4>After receiving an exemption from our institutional review board, we performed a secondary data analysis on a cohort of patients that underwent primary TJA of the hip or knee 6 months before and 12 months after implementation of the change. Data on same-day ambulation rates, length of stay (LOS), and in-hospital ...[more]
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