Occurrence of never events after total joint arthroplasty in the United States

Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is a major orthopedic procedure associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Never events (NEs) are harmful hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) that are preventable.

Information on hospital admissions with TJA was collected from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2003 to 2012. NIS was queried to identify NE applicable to TJA patients based on the HAC definition listed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). NEs were further compared before and after 2008 to evaluate the effect of the new CMS non-reimbursement policy on their incidence.

A total of 8,176,774 patients were admitted with TJA from 2003 to 2012. 108,668 patients of these (1.33%) had ≥ 1 NE. The most prevalent NE was fall and trauma (0.7%). Significant multivariable predictors with higher odds of developing at least one NE included weekend admission [odds ratio (99.9% CI), 4.3 (3.1, 5.8), p < 0.001] and weight loss [odds ratio (99.9% CI), 2.8 (2.2, 3.5), p < 0.001]. A temporal comparison of NE before and after 2008 revealed a decrease in total NE occurrence after 2008 when the CMS announced discontinuing payment for NE (1.39% vs. 1.25%, p < 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounding risk factors, NE after TJA was significantly associated with an increased mortality (p < 0.001), a longer hospital stay (p < 0.001), and higher total hospitalization charges (p < 0.001).

These data demonstrated that NE in TJA patients was predictive of an increased mortality, length of hospital stay, and hospitalization costs. This study established baseline NE rates in the TJA patient population to use as benchmarks and identified target areas for quality improvement in US.