Delayed Discharge for Non-Clinical Reasons in Hip Procedures: Differential Characteristics and Opportunity Cost

Amada Pellico-López, Ana Fernández-Feito, David Cantarero, Manuel Herrero-Montes, Joaquín Cayón- De Las Cuevas, Paula Parás-Bravo and María Paz-Zulueta
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Amada Pellico-López: Cantabria Health Service, Avda. Derechos de la Infancia 31, 39340 Suances, Spain
Ana Fernández-Feito: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Oviedo, Avda. Julián Clavería s/n, 33006 Oviedo, Spain
David Cantarero: Department of Economics, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
Manuel Herrero-Montes: Faculty of Nursing, University of Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Spain
Joaquín Cayón- De Las Cuevas: Faculty of Law, University of Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain
Paula Parás-Bravo: Faculty of Nursing, University of Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Spain
María Paz-Zulueta: Faculty of Nursing, University of Cantabria, Avda. Valdecilla s/n, 39008 Santander, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 17, 1-13

Abstract: Delayed discharge for non-clinical reasons shares common characteristics with hip procedures. We sought to quantify the length of stay and related costs of hip procedures and compare these with other cases of delayed discharge. A cross-sectional study was conducted at a public hospital in Spain (2007–2015) including 306 patients with 6945 days of total stay and 2178 days of prolonged stay. The mean appropriate stay was 15.58 days, and the mean prolonged stay was 7.12 days. The cost of a prolonged stay was €641,002.09. The opportunity cost according to the value of the hospital complexity unit was €922,997.82. The mean diagnostic-related groups’ weight was 3.40. Up to 85.29% of patients resided in an urban area near the hospital ( p = 0.001), and 83.33% were referred to a long-stay facility for functional recovery ( p = 0.001). The proportion of patients with hip procedures and delayed discharge was lower than previous reports; however, their length of stay was longer. The cost of prolonged stay could account for 21.17% of the total. Compared with the remaining cases of delayed discharge, the appropriate stay was shorter in hip procedures, with a profile of older women living in an urban area close to the hospital and referred to a long-stay center for functional recovery.

Keywords: hip fractures; hip injuries; hospital costs; length of stay; patient discharge; economic burden (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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