Reduced Length of Stay Following Patient Pathway Optimization for Primary Hip and Knee Arthroplasty at a Swiss Hospital

Purpose: Total knee and hip arthroplasties (TKA and THA) are common surgical procedures in Switzerland and worldwide. Alongside increasing demand for these procedures, many providers have adopted enhanced recovery programs (ERPs) that aim to optimize recovery after these surgeries. We evaluated the impact of implementing a Patient Pathway Optimization (PPO) program designed around ERP principles for patients undergoing TKA or THA in a Swiss Cantonal hospital. The primary objective was to determine whether PPO implementation for patients undergoing TKA or THA reduced length of stay (LOS) during index hospitaliza-tion. Additional study outcomes were hospital inpatient costs, rate of complications and readmissions, and patient discharge destination. Methods: This was a retrospective, observational study comparing outcomes before and after PPO implementation for patients who underwent primary TKA or THA from 2014 to 2019. The PPO program modified the care pathway and implemented five ERP principles (preoperative patient education, pre-operative physiotherapy, local infiltration analgesia, early mobilization, and oral analgesia). Hospital electronic medical record and billing data were used for the analysis. Results: After implementation of PPO, LOS was shorter compared with the pre-PPO period (reduction of 2.5 and 2.4 days in TKA and THA cohorts, respectively, both p < 0.001). Mean inpatient costs per patient were also reduced following PPO (decrease of USD2016 [p = 0.015] and USD340 [p = 0.54] for TKA and THA cohorts, respectively). There were no observed increases in readmissions or complications after PPO implementation in either the TKA or THA cohort. More patients in the post-PPO groups were discharged to home vs an alternative health-care setting than in the pre-PPO groups (TKA, 83.8% vs 68.4% [p = 0.07]; THA, 80.4% vs 73.9%, [p = 0.31]). Conclusion: Patient pathway optimization and implementation of additional enhanced recovery principles for TKA and THA may benefit both health systems and patients, by reducing LOS and costs without increases in complications or readmissions.