Establishing a Successful Outpatient Joint Arthroplasty Program

Rapid implementation of an outpatient arthroplasty care pathway: a COVID-19-driven quality improvement initiative

Background

Hip and knee total joint arthroplasty (TJA) procedures are two of the most common inpatient surgical procedures worldwide. Outpatient TJA has emerged as a feasible option. COVID-19 caused significant constraints on inpatient surgical resources and contributed to a growing surgical backlog. We present a quality improvement (QI) initiative aimed at adding an outpatient TJA pathway to our pre-existing inpatient TJA programme, with the target of performing 25% of our primary TJA as outpatients.

Methods

This was a QI study at a tertiary level arthroplasty centre. To achieve our aim, a patient-centred needs analysis revealed the need to develop patient selection criteria, perform a specific and tailored anaesthetic, provide patient education and conduct virtual care follow-up. Based on these findings, an outpatient TJA intervention bundle was developed and implemented.

Results

After implementing the outpatient pathway, 65 patients were scheduled for outpatient TJA. Fifty-five (84.6%) patients were successfully discharged home on the day of surgery. Successful outpatient TJA accounted for 33.3% of all primary TJAs performed at our intuition throughout the study period. There was excellent adherence to the intervention protocols, with the success hinging on multidisciplinary team and supported QI culture. Thirty-day emergency department visits for inpatient and outpatient TJAs were 8.93% and 6.15%, respectively. No outpatient TJA patients required hospital readmission within 30 days.

Conclusion

Our study demonstrates that implementation of an outpatient TJA pathway in response to inpatient resource constraints during the COVID-19 pandemic is feasible. The findings of this report will be of interest to surgical centres facing surgical backlog and constraints on inpatient resources during and after the pandemic.

Day-case pelvic osteotomy for developmental dysplasia of the hip

PURPOSE

In this article we report the results of a pilot study analysing the implications of performing pelvic osteotomies for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) as a day case. We assess the advantages of performing paediatric pelvic osteotomies as day-case procedures from a financial perspective and from an in-patient bed resource point of view.

METHODS

This was a prospective cohort study analysing Salter and Pemberton pelvic osteotomies performed for DDH over a three-year period from 1st January 2017 to 30th September 2019. All patients residing within 50 km of the hospital were eligible for day-case procedures. All other cases were performed as in-patients. A detailed financial costing analysis was performed and the in-patient resources utilized were documented and compared between the two models of care.

RESULTS

In total, 84 Salter and Pemberton osteotomies were performed between 1st January 2017 to 30th September 2019. Of these cases, 35 were performed as day-case procedures. A total reduction in 70 in-patient bed days was reported. Total costs for a single in-patient requiring two nights of admission amounted to €5,752, whereas the discharge cost of a day case was reported at €2,670. The savings made by our institution amounted to €3,082 per day case. A total saving of €102,696 was made over three years. In all, seven day-case patients re-attended due to inadequate pain control. They required overnight admission and were discharged uneventfully the following day.

CONCLUSION

Day-case pelvic osteotomies significantly reduce the number of in-patient bed days used in an elective paediatric orthopaedic setting. Significant financial savings in excess of €3,000 per case are possible. The introduction of day-case pelvic osteotomy procedures can significantly improve the cost-effectiveness of managing DDH provided there are clear protocols in place with close clinical follow-up.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.