Economic Impact of Hospitalization Past Maximal Neurosurgical Inpatient Benefit

Background The unsustainable cost of healthcare in the United States has made it important for all healthcare professionals to examine their practices for wasteful spending and work to mitigate these costs. When neurosurgical patients remain hospitalized beyond the point of maximum inpatient benefit, this represents a potential source of healthcare economic waste. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the direct and indirect costs to a hospital system when neurosurgical patients remain hospitalized past the maximum inpatient benefit and identify targets to improve this potential wasteful spending.  Methods We performed an extensive chart review of all patients admitted to our neurosurgical service from the months of July to October 2016, who had been deemed medically stable for discharge but remained in the hospital past their ideal date of discharge. We analyzed for significant trends in patient factors, procedural acuity, disposition, funding, and other factors that contributed to the delays in discharge. Results A total of 334 patients were admitted to the Carilion Clinic-Virginia Tech Carilion (CC-VTC) inpatient neurosurgery service, and 50 of these admissions (15%) resulted in medically unnecessary prolonged hospitalizations. These patients were hospitalized for a total of 324 days past the dates of ideal discharge. Elective cases had the maximum number of prolonged hospitalizations, while the emergent cases had the maximum number of prolonged hospitalization days. Patients with private insurance had the shortest number of prolonged hospitalization days, and uninsured patients had the longest. Patients requiring disposition to a rehabilitation or a nursing facility remained in the inpatient setting for longer periods than those destined for home. The most common factors limiting appropriate discharge were related to bed availability at outside facilities, funding issues, and differing opinions on appropriate disposition. The medically unnecessary days accounted for 41% of the total hospitalization but accounted for only 12.9% of the billable charges. The billable cost per medically necessary day was $17,326 in comparison to a medically unnecessary day of $2,070. Indirect costs were inferred from these patients utilizing beds and resources that could have been allocated to others with acute needs, given that our hospital is at capacity and on diversion, a significant percentage of the time. Conclusion Neurosurgical patients remaining hospitalized past their maximal inpatient benefit have a significant economic impact on a hospital system. Identifying patients who are at risk for prolonged hospitalizations may provide us with the targets for improvement to mitigate this healthcare economic waste.