Excessively long hospital stays after trauma are not related to the severity of illness: let's aim to the right target!

IMPORTANCE: Reduction in length of hospital stay is a veritable target in reducing the overall costs of health care. However, many existing approaches are flawed because the assumptions of what cause excessive length of stay are incorrect; we methodically identified the right targets in this study. OBJECTIVE: To identify the causes of excessively prolonged hospitalization (ExProH) in trauma patients. DESIGN: The trauma registry, billing databases, and medical records of trauma admissions were reviewed. Excessively prolonged hospitalization was defined by the standard method used by insurers, which is a hospital stay that exceeds the Diagnosis Related Group-based trim point. The causes of ExProH were explored in a unique potentially avoidable days database, used by our hospital's case managers to track discharge delays. SETTING: Level I academic trauma center. PARTICIPANTS: Adult trauma patients admitted between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2010. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Excessively prolonged hospitalization and hospital cost. RESULTS: Of 3237 patients, 155 (5%) had ExProH. The patients with ExProH compared with non-ExProH patients were older (mean [SD] age, 53 [21] vs 47 [22] years, respectively; P = .001), were more likely to have blunt trauma (92% vs 84%, respectively; P = .03), were more likely to be self-payers (16% vs 11%, respectively; P = .02) or covered by Medicare/Medicaid (41% vs 30%, respectively; P = .002), were more likely to be discharged to post-acute care facilities than home (65% vs 35%, respectively; P < .001), and had higher hospitalization cost (mean, $54 646 vs $18 444, respectively; P < .001). Both groups had similar Injury Severity Scores, Revised Trauma Scores, baseline comorbidities, and in-hospital complication rates. Independent predictors of mortality were discharge to a rehabilitation facility (odds ratio = 4.66; 95% CI, 2.71-8.00; P < .001) or other post-acute care facility (odds ratio = 5.04; 95% CI, 2.52-10.05; P < .001) as well as insurance type that was Medicare/Medicaid (odds ratio = 1.70; 95% CI, 1.06-2.72; P = .03) or self-pay (odds ratio = 2.43; 95% CI, 1.35-4.37; P = .003). The reasons for discharge delays were clinical in only 20% of the cases. The remaining discharges were excessively delayed because of difficulties in rehabilitation facility placement (47%), in-hospital operational delays (26%), or payer-related issues (7%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: System-related issues, not severity of illness, prolong hospital stay excessively. Cost-reduction efforts should target operational bottlenecks between acute and postacute care.

Coronary diameter and vasodilator function in children following arterial switch operation for complete transposition of the great arteries.

Coronary reimplantation during arterial switch operation (ASO) may affect coronary artery growth and function during childhood. The purpose of this study was to assess coronary artery diameter and regional myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) in children after neonatal ASO. We measured proximal diameters of left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex, and posterior descending coronary arteries on coronary angiogram in 12 children (median age 11 years, range 7.6 to 15.1) with a history of neonatal ASO. These children then underwent cardiac positron emission tomographic imaging using nitrogen-13 ammonia to assess MBF at baseline and during intravenous adenosine hyperemia in regions supplied by these 3 coronary arteries. Coronary artery z-scores were within normal range (-2.0 to 2.0) for 32 of 36 coronary arteries. MFR (ratio of hyperemic to basal MBF) was normal (>2.5) in all myocardial regions in 10 of 12 patients. The remaining 2 patients, 1 with a dual LAD and 1 with LAD origin from the right coronary artery, had generalized impairment of hyperemic MBF (<2.0 ml/g/min) and low MFR (<2.5). Coronary artery z-scores and MFR in corresponding myocardial territories were not correlated (r = 0.15, p = 0.36). In conclusion, coronary growth and function appear to be normal in most children after neonatal ASO. Children with anatomic LAD abnormalities may be at increased risk of impaired MFR.