Pre-op training program improves outcomes

(HealthDay)—A home-based, preoperative training program can decrease hospital duration of stay and costs of care, while being well accepted by patients, according to a study published recently in Surgery.

Michael J. Englesbe, M.D., from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues retrospectively evaluated patients who participated in the Michigan Surgical Home and Optimization Program and subsequently underwent major elective general and thoracic operative care (June 2014 to December 2015). The authors compared hospital duration of stay and payer costs with a propensity-matched control group who underwent operative care prior to program implementation.

The researchers note that of the 641 patients participating in the program, 182 patients were propensity matched to patients who underwent operative care prior to program implementation. Participation in the Michigan Surgical Home and Optimization Program was associated with a 31 percent reduction in hospital duration of stay (P < 0.001) and a 28 percent reduction in total costs (P < 0.001), after adjusting for covariates in multivariate analysis.

"Further efforts will focus on broader implementation and linking participation to postoperative complications and rigorous patient-reported outcomes," the authors write.