Background

The COVID-19 pandemic stressed inpatient hospital capacity and restricted elective surgery, limiting bariatric access. A novel outpatient home health program was introduced to support early discharge after bariatric surgery and preserve inpatient healthcare resources for COVID. This retrospective study evaluates the clinical/financial impact of enhanced home health in early post-operative bariatric recovery.

Methods

Our program offered enhanced home health (EHH) to all bariatric patients with insurance inclusion. Patients were separated into 3 care tiers based on BMI and comorbidity with each tier adding complementary services. Tier 1 provided home intravenous hydration, anti-emetics x 3 days, and home nursing care. Tier 2 (BMI>50 kg/m2) added physical therapy. Tier 3 (plus comorbidity) added virtual primary care medical consultation. Patients were planned for scheduled discharge on post-operative day one by 10 am, if deemed medically appropriate.

Results

From December to June 2021, 355 bariatric cases were performed, 158 non-EHH patients and 197 EHH patients with the following combined case mix: duodenal switch (54.6%), revision (17.2%), sleeve gastrectomy (16.6%), SADI-S (7.7%), and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (3.9%). The prior year average hospital length of stay (LOS) was 2.0 days, non-EHH LOS of 2.0 days, versus EHH LOS of 1.5 days. A 6% reduction in direct variable costs per case was demonstrated, $9607 non-EHH versus $9036 EHH. Comparative readmission rates for nausea/vomiting/dehydration (NVD) equaled 3.8% for non-EHH and 1.5% for EHH patients.

Conclusions

Enhanced home health preserved access to bariatric care while decreasing length of stay, variable costs, and reduced readmission for NVD.