Time to Surgery Reduction in Hip Fracture Patients on an Integrated Orthogeriatric Unit: A Comparative Study of Three Healthcare Models.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical efficacy of three different healthcare models (Traditional Model, Geriatric Consultant Model, and Orthogeriatric Unit Model) consecutively applied to a single academic center (University Hospital of Salamanca, Spain) for older hip fracture patients. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study, including 2741 hip fracture patients older than 64 years, admitted between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2014 to the University Hospital of Salamanca. Patients were divided into three groups according to the healthcare model applied. There were 983 patients on the Traditional Model, 945 patients on the Geriatric Consultant Model, and 813 patients on the Orthogeriatric Unit Model. We recorded age and gender of patients, functional status at admission (Barthel Index, Katz Index, and Physical Red Cross Scale), type of fracture, and intervention, and we analyzed the length of stay, time to surgery, post-surgical stay, and in-hospital mortality according to the healthcare model applied. RESULTS: Hip fractures are much more frequent in women, and an increase in the average age of patients was observed along with the study (P < 0.001). The most common type of fracture in the three models studied was an extracapsular fracture, for which the most common surgical procedure used was osteosynthesis. On the functional status of patients, there were no differences on the ambulatory ability previous to fracture, measured by the Physical Red Cross Scale, and the percentage of patients with a slight dependence determined by the Barthel Index (>60) was similar in both groups, but considering the Katz Index, the percentage of patients with a high degree of independence (A-B) was significantly higher for the group of patients treated on the Orthogeriatric Unit Model period (56%, P = 0.009). The Orthogeriatric Unit Model registered the greatest percentage of patients undergoing surgery (96.1%, P < 0.001) and the greatest number of early surgical procedures (<24 h) (24.8%, P < 0.001). The orthogeriatric unit model showed the shortest duration of stay (9 days median), decreasing by one day in respect of each of the other models studied (P < 0.001). Time to surgery was also significantly reduced with the Orthogeriatric Unit Model (median of 3 days, P < 0.001). With regard to in-hospital follow-up, there was a reduction in in-hospital mortality during the study period. We observed differences among the three healthcare models, but without statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: The healthcare model based on an Orthogeriatric Unit seems to be the most efficient, because it reaches a reduction in time to surgery, with an increased number of patients surgically treated on in the first 24 h, and the greatest frequency of surgically-treated patients.

Los ingresos ectópicos y su relación con la aparición de complicaciones y estancias prolongadas / Outlier patient admissions and their relationship with the emergence of clinical complications and prolonged hospital stays

Objetivo: Analizar la relación entre el tipo de ingreso (ectópico y no ectópico) y la aparición de complicaciones clínicas y la estancia media. Métodos: Mediante un estudio epidemiológico retrospectivo de cohorte de pacientes ingresados durante un periodo de 6 meses en el Hospital Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca se identificaron los pacientes ectópicos y no ectópicos. Se utilizaron las bases de datos del servicio de admisión, el conjunto mínimo básico de datos de hospitalización, el agrupador de pacientes por grupos relacionados por el diagnóstico (GRD) y el analizador estadístico clínico-asistencial ALCOR. El análisis se amplió detallando los resultados para los cinco GRD más frecuentes en el periodo. Resultados: De un total de 11.842 ingresos, el 8,4% fueron ingresos ectópicos. En el estudio global, la estancia media fue mayor en los ectópicos (8,11 días) que en los no ectópicos (7,15 días). La mortalidad también fue superior en los ectópicos, pero aparecieron menos complicaciones (7,6% en ectópicos frente a 8,4% en no ectópicos). El análisis por GRD mantuvo estos resultados en tres de los cinco grupos analizados, con mayor estancia media, pero menos complicaciones, en los casos ectópicos. Conclusiones: Un determinado porcentaje de pacientes ingresaron ectópicos. Fueron más frecuentes los pacientes de especialidades médicas ubicados en plantas quirúrgicas. Estos pacientes ectópicos presentaron una estancia media mayor respecto a los no ectópicos. No hubo diferencias significativas en la aparición de complicaciones

Objective: To analyze the relationship between the type of hospital admission (outlier and non-outlier admissions) and the appearance of clinical complications and the average stay. Methods: From a retrospective epidemiological study of a cohort of patients admitted to the Hospital Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca (Salamanca, Spain) over a six-month period, outlier and non-outlier patients were identified. This project had access to the admissions department database, the hospital's CMBD (in Spanish, Conjunto Mínimo Básico de Datos) for hospitalisation, the AP-DRG (All Patient-Diagnosis Related Groups) and ALCOR (a clinical-statistics analytics tool). It then proceeded to break down the results by DRG, looking at the five most common DRGs in that period. Results: 8.4% of the total 11,842 admissions were medical outliers. In the overall study, the average stay was longer for outlier patients (8. 11 days) than for other patients (7.15 days). The mortality rate was, likewise, higher for outlier patients, although there was a reduced incidence of complications (7.6% for outlier patients as opposed to 8.4% for others). The analysis by DRG corroborated these results in three of the five cases investigated, showing longer average stays but fewer clinical complications in the case of outlier patients. Conclusions: On admission to hospital, a significant proportion of patients were allocated beds on inappropriate wards (outlier patients). It was more common to find medical patients placed on surgical wards than vice versa. The average stay of outlier patients was longer than that of patients admitted to the correct ward. The study found no significant difference between the two groupś in terms of clinical complication rates

[Outlier patient admissions and their relationship with the emergence of clinical complications and prolonged hospital stays]. / Los ingresos ectópicos y su relación con la aparición de complicaciones y estancias prolongadas.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between the type of hospital admission (outlier and non-outlier admissions) and the appearance of clinical complications and the average stay. METHODS: From a retrospective epidemiological study of a cohort of patients admitted to the Hospital Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca (Salamanca, Spain) over a six-month period, outlier and non-outlier patients were identified. This project had access to the admissions department database, the hospital's CMBD (in Spanish, Conjunto Mínimo Básico de Datos) for hospitalisation, the AP-DRG (All Patient-Diagnosis Related Groups) and ALCOR (a clinical-statistics analytics tool). It then proceeded to break down the results by DRG, looking at the five most common DRGs in that period. RESULTS: 8.4% of the total 11,842 admissions were medical outliers. In the overall study, the average stay was longer for outlier patients (8. 11 days) than for other patients (7.15 days). The mortality rate was, likewise, higher for outlier patients, although there was a reduced incidence of complications (7.6% for outlier patients as opposed to 8.4% for others). The analysis by DRG corroborated these results in three of the five cases investigated, showing longer average stays but fewer clinical complications in the case of outlier patients. CONCLUSIONS: On admission to hospital, a significant proportion of patients were allocated beds on inappropriate wards (outlier patients). It was more common to find medical patients placed on surgical wards than vice versa. The average stay of outlier patients was longer than that of patients admitted to the correct ward. The study found no significant difference between the two groups in terms of clinical complication rates.