Enhanced recovery pathway decreases complications and cuts costs up to $11,000 per procedure.
The use of the standardized care protocol Enhanced Recovery After Colorectal Surgery decreases hospital stays, reduces patients’ risk for complications, and lowers costs per procedure, finds a new study presented at the American College of Surgeons 2017 Quality and Patient Safety Conference.
Researchers evaluated 246 patients who underwent elective colorectal operations at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Chicago. They compared results of patients whose surgeries were performed using the ERACS protocol to those who underwent surgery before the protocol was implemented.
The study determined that use of the protocol, which standardizes care before, during, and after colorectal operations, reduced hospital stays by more than half, reduced complications by more than one-third, and cut costs up to $11,000 per procedure,
“Our goal was to determine whether we could send patients home sooner after surgery without having to worry about increased complications or increased readmission rates,” says Deepa Bhat, MD, a second-year surgery resident and lead study author, in a news release. “We found that not only does our pathway not negatively impact their hospital length of stay, readmission rate, and complication rates, but that ERACS actually improves these outcomes.”
Lower Costs, Big Savings
According to the study’s findings, the typical hospital length of stay dropped from 5.65 days to 2.89 days after implementation of ERACS implemented, the direct variable cost was approximately $3,705 lower with the protocol, and total hospitalization costs were reduced by up to $11,000 per patient. Institutionally, this translated into a savings of around $1 million for the year.
“Before the enhanced recovery pathway, each surgeon had their own way of doing things, such as when patients should start liquids or when they could be discharged home from the hospital,” she said. “Now, care is standardized so that every patient experiences the same pre-, intra-, and postoperative protocol, which leads to better outcomes.”
The patients receive more coaching and education than they did prior to the pathway’s use, Bhat says.
“The patient goes into surgery having a very clear idea of what they can expect, such as how their pain will be controlled, when they can start liquids, and what their expectations are for ambulation,” she says. “By making patients active participants in their own care, they tend to do better.”
After the study’s conclusion, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center adopted the ERACS pathway as standard operating procedure.
Jennifer Thew, RN, is the senior nursing editor at HealthLeaders.