Costs and Consequences of Early Hospital Discharge After Major Inpatient Surgery in Older Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

As prospective payment transitions to bundled reimbursement, many US hospitals are implementing protocols to shorten hospitalization after major surgery. These efforts could have unintended consequences and increase overall surgical episode spending if they induce more frequent postdischarge care use or readmissions.

Objective

To evaluate the association between early postoperative discharge practices and overall surgical episode spending and expenditures for postdischarge care use and readmissions.

Design, setting, and participants

This investigation was a cross-sectional cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing colectomy (189 229 patients at 1876 hospitals), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (218 940 patients at 1056 hospitals), or total hip

SUBMITTER: Regenbogen SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5478875 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature