Hospitals looking to improve patient flow and cut back on costs should consider same-day discharge for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients, according to a study in today's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Discharging selected low-risk Medicare patients following PCIs such as cardiac stents on the same day as the procedure would free up hospital beds and reduce medical expenses, according to the study.
Although hospitals rarely implement same-day discharges for PCI patients, the study found that the practice was not linked to higher risks or death or readmissions compared to patients who remained in the hospital overnight.
"These data suggest that a proportion of low-risk patients currently observed overnight may be eligible for same-day discharge without an increase in early or intermediate-term adverse events," the study authors said in a press release.
According to the study authors, one-third of the 700,000 patients undergoing PCIs each year are elective, and roughly 20 percent of them could be sent home within 24 hours of the procedure.
"That could potentially free up 35,000 beds for other patients," coauthor and immediate past president of the American College of Cardiology Dr. Ralph G. Brindis told HealthLeadersMedia. "And if the average cost of a bed day is $1,000 to $2,000, well, that would be significant."
Brindis also expects patients who don't have to stay overnight at the hospital will report high patient experience scores. And with the industry moving toward patient-centered care, more hospitals may start to implement same-day discharges for low-risk PCI patients.
Such findings are a bright spot in research involving heart stent procedures, which has found that most are necessary or unwarranted, and add billions to healthcare costs.
To learn more:
- read the press release
- here's the study abstract
- read the HealthLeadersMedia article