Short Stay After Shoulder Arthroplasty Does Not Increase 90-Day Readmissions in Medicare Patients Compared to Privately-Insured Patients

As of January 1, 2021 total shoulder arthroplasty was removed from the Medicare inpatient-only list, reflecting a growing belief in the potential merits of same-day discharge regardless of insurance type. It is yet unknown whether Medicare populations, who frequently have more severe comorbidity burdens, would experience higher complication rates relative to privately-insured patients who are often younger with fewer comorbidities. Given the limited number of true outpatient cohorts available to study, discharge at least by postoperative day 1 may serve as a useful proxy for true same-day discharge, and we hypothesized that these Medicare patients would have increased 90-day readmission rates compared to their privately-insured counterparts.

Source: Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery - June 9, 2021 Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Daniel E. Goltz, Robert A. Burnett, John R. Wickman, Jay M. Levin, Claire B. Howell, Gregory P. Nicholson, Nikhil N. Verma, Oke A. Anakwenze, Tally E. Lassiter, Grant E. Garrigues, Christopher S. Klifto Tags: Original Article Source Type: research