Many improvements in health care today involve care coordination across the entire health care system. Active management of an orthopedic surgery service from a system perspective allows for improvements that can favorably impact readmissions and length of stay (LOS) for patients.1 The following is an example of a systemwide process improvement in total knee replacement (TKR) surgery that dramatically decreased 30-day readmissions and shortened the LOS during a 12-month period.\
Background
The VA is the largest integrated health care system in the U.S. VA hospitals use the VA Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) to monitor surgical services. Initially known as the National Surgery Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), the program began in 1994 to help provide reliable, valid information on patient presurgical factors, processes of care during surgery, and 30-day morbidity and mortality rates in VA hospitals.2 Since its inception, NSQIP has spread to the private sector and is now widely used throughout the U.S.
Using on-site data acquisition by specially trained and dedicated registered nurses, information on each surgical case is input into a quality program. Quarterly reports are distributed to each hospital, and a comparison of mortality, LOS, 30-day readmissions to the hospital, and other data are analyzed and presented by quarter and rolling 12-month time frames. Use of VASQIP data allows improvement of the structures and processes of care throughout the VA, providing safer surgery for veterans.
At the Phoenix VA Health Care System (PVAHCS) in Arizona, the third quarter 2014 report showed the rolling 12-month average LOS for orthopedic TKR patients was 3.5 days and corresponding 30-day readmissions were 7.9%. Using a systems improvement approach, the authors set a goal of reducing these metrics by 10%.
The orthopedic service engaged members of the hospitalist, anesthesia, physical therapy (PT), nursing, social work, primary care, and pharmacy services, as well as hospital administration. Twelve months later, the LOS for TKR patients declined 20% to 2.8 days. Corresponding 30-day readmissions declined for the patients with knee replacement to 3.4%—a 57% reduction in 1 year. Mortality for these 177 cases was zero.
To accomplish these improvements, the authors divided the surgical procedure into preoperative, perioperative, and postoperative time frames and looked at process improvement during each of these periods. The following is a summary of the various processes that the authors feel contributed to the reduced LOS and 30-day readmission rate. Although some of these interventions were in place before the study period, all the processes were standardized for TKRs through surgeon consensus, and each of the surgeons adopted all the processes during the study period.
Preoperative Processes
In the VA primary care-based model orthopedic surgery is accessed through a consult process in the electronic health record. The orthopedic surgery service reviews each new consult and makes recommendations for optimization at the time the consult was received. This process was used to work closely with primary care providers to preoperatively prepare patients. The orthopedic surgery service advocates smoking cessation, substance abuse treatment, weight loss with an ideal body mass index of ≤ 35, and diabetes mellitus (DM) management with a ≤ 7 hemoglobin A1c value.3-7
This management did not result in fewer patients receiving TKR. In fact, the volume of TKR patients increased by 8% over the study period. Although part of this increase could have been due to increased scheduling efficiency, the orthopedic surgery service worked closely with primary care, nutrition, and medicine services to optimize these patients so they could be placed on the schedule for surgery.
Preoperative Education
Physical therapy and the orthopedic preprocedure clinic provided preoperative education to patients, covering preoperative chlorhexidine body washes, home safety, use of a walker, anticipated LOS, use of ambulatory sequential compressive devices, use of a knee cooling device, as well as PT protocols during hospitalization.8 This helped increase postoperative patient adherence and helped patients anticipate an appropriate LOS. Health care providers worked with patients to understand their home environment and plan for caregivers to assist them in the immediate postoperative period.
Intraoperative Processes
Reducing Blood Loss
The orthopedic surgery service reviewed literature related to the efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid. Based on the literature, the orthopedic surgery service arrived at a consensus agreement to implement a topical tranexamic acid dose of 3 g/100 cc saline for each TKR. Presentation of the pertinent literature to the pharmacy service allowed placement of this medication on the formulary for intraoperative use in the TKR cases.
Specific processes were implemented that involved the orthopedic service ordering tranexamic acid in advance for each patient, pharmacy mixing the solution and having it ready in a timely manner, and the operating room sending a messenger to the pharmacy to pick up a sterile container of the tranexamic acid/saline solution. Postoperative blood loss and transfusions decreased. Less anemia contributed to better performance and less fatigue in PT, which helped move patients down a pathway for quicker discharge.9,10
