Outcomes of Same-Day Discharge After Total Hip Arthroplasty in the Medicare Population

There is an increasing utilization of same-day discharge total hip arthroplasty (SDD THA). As the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services considers removing THA from the inpatient-only list, there is likely to be a significant increase in the number of Medicare patients undergoing SDD THA. Thus, there is a need to report on outcomes of SDD THA in this population.

A retrospective review was performed on 850 consecutive SDD THA patients including 161 Medicare patients. We compared failure to launch, complication, emergency department visit, and 90-day readmission rates between the Medicare and non-Medicare cohorts.

The Medicare group was older and had less variability in their admission diagnosis. There was no significant difference in failure to launch, complication, emergency department visit, or 90-day readmission rates between Medicare and non-Medicare groups.

The benefits of SDD THA can be safely extended to the carefully indicated and motivated Medicare patient.