Factors associated with non-home discharge after total knee arthroplasty: Potential for cost savings?

Increasing demand for total knee arthroplasties (TKA) has been targeted by legislation to minimize costs and maximize outcomes. Home discharges reduce costs, and it is important to determine patient variables associated with this discharge disposition. We explored non-modifiable and modifiable factors associated with non-home discharges to determine what patient specific factors require attention. This retrospective study included 171,903 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) patients between 2011 and 2016. Patient specific variables and discharge destinations included home, short-term nursing facilities (SNF), not home, and rehabilitation. Chi-squared analyses and analyses of variance (ANOVA) were conducted for categorical and continuous data, respectively. Multinomial regression model was utilized to assess associations between discharge destination and patient specific variables. Every year increase above the mean age (66 years) was associated with a nine percent (p