The Effect of a Discharge Disposition Algorithm on Patient Outcomes and Satisfaction

Total joint arthroplasties are one of the most common procedures performed in the United States. As changes have occurred in the surgical techniques of these procedures, postoperative recovery time has decreased and patients have been able to safely transition to home rather than a post-acute care facility. The demand for total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is expected to grow 44% as the prevalence of lower extremity osteoarthritis continues to rise (Sher et al., 2017) because of an aging baby boomer population. In the next 20 years, it is expected that the demand for total hip arthroplasty will grow by 174% and demand for total knee arthroplasty will grow by as much as 670% (Napier et al., 2013). An area with high variability in the postoperative period is in postdischarge rehabilitation. Post-acute inpatient care can account for up to 36% of the bundled costs of a TJA. There is a lack of evidence that patients recover better or have decreased complications by transitioning to an inpatient rehabilitation setting compared with transitioning to home. The aims of this literature search were to (a) identify the safest discharge disposition for patients following TJA; (b) determine the rate of complications and readmissions among those discharged to skilled nursing facility, inpatient rehabilitation unit, and home; and (c) explore how specified care pathways affect patient expectations and outcomes. The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, ProQuest, and Cochrane were searched using the following key terms: discharge disposition, total joint arthroplasty, joint replacement, hip arthroplasty, knee arthroplasty, care pathway, discharge outcomes and readmissions, discharge protocols, and discharge algorithms. Five key themes emerged. Patients with significant comorbidities may require longer length of stay in the hospital or potentially discharge to a facility, discharge to facility associated with high rate of complications, setting patient expectations increases likelihood of discharge home, discharge to inpatient facilities does not improve outcomes, and discharge to any post-acute care facility is more expensive than discharge to home. This review identified themes in postoperative care of TJA patients that can be utilized to create a discharge disposition algorithm using best practices to stratify patients into the appropriate discharge disposition while setting appropriate expectations for patients undergoing these procedures to ensure high levels of patient satisfaction following these procedures.