Principal Investigator: Eric L. Hume, MD
Department: Orthopaedic Surgery, Penn Medicine
Services Provided: Data Analysis
Publication: SF Lynch, R Wong, Y Lo, et. al. Readmission Risk after Orthopedic Surgery. May 2018. Symposium on Data Science and Statistics. Reston, Virginia (Poster)
Description:
Reducing unnecessary hospital readmissions has potential to both improve patient satisfaction and lower health care costs. In collaboration with Dr. Eric Hume, We used electronic health record information of patients admitted for hip and knee joint replacement surgery to estimate risk of hospital readmission within 30 days of discharge. We identified the lab measures of hemoglobin and albumin as the top predictors of readmission risk and noted that neither was currently being used in practice to identify risky patients prior to discharge. Related to this, we discovered evidence that a nutritional intervention could be particularly valuable in reducing readmission risk. The orthopedic surgery department will take this knowledge into consideration as they make decisions about patient discharge and pre-surgery interventions.
