Decreased Health Care Expenditure and Average Length of Therapy with Facilitated Transition Discharge Program for Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Patients

This study compares the average length of therapy (ALOT) between patients discharged from acute care facilities that have instituted a facilitated transition discharge program allowing for negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) systems to be provided to the patient at or before hospital discharge (facilitated transition [FT] program*) vs those hospitalized in facilities without this program (non-FT).

Billable orders from January 2021-September 2021 were obtained through Oracle data sources and analyzed in 3-month rolling intervals. FT facilities were further segmented into active FT facilities (at least one transition order within the prior 90 days) vs inactive FT facilities (FT program set up but no transition orders during past 90 days). Distinct rental orders (billable orders) were counted for NPWT systems among patients treated with NPWT within the last 3 months. ALOT was computed as: (sum of total therapy days)/(number of patients treated).A total of 82,543 billable orders and 92,008 patients were analyzed. Sixty-seven percent (49,472) of billable orders and 69% (54,898) of patients were in active FT facilities.

Seventy-five percent (13,737) of transitions from active FT facilities were placed via FT program. Inpatient ALOT was 1.8 days shorter for FT vs non-FT facilities (9.0 vs 10.8 days). This equates to a potential per patient hospital savings of $5,071 for FT facilities. ALOT was 1.2 days shorter in active FT vs inactive FT facilities (8.7 vs 9.9 days) and 1.4 days shorter from FT program vs non-FT program discharges in active FT facilities (7.5 vs 8.9 days). There was a 2.0 day ALOT decrease for active FT program patients vs non-FT patients (7.5 vs 9.5 days).

This study shows the advantage of shorter inpatient stays and ALOT for patients hospitalized in facilities actively using the FT program. Shorter inpatient stays and ALOT may potentially lower healthcare expenditures.