Implementation of an acute stroke program decreases hospitalization costs and length of stay.

A large community hospital implemented an acute stroke program to respond to stroke patients in a consistent, systematic, and efficient manner. The primary objectives were to monitor the care delivered, improve the quality of care, and move the patients through their initial hospital stay in a timely manner. Acute stroke standing orders were developed, with a critical path developed on the basis of these orders and an expected length of stay. A multidisciplinary team began the rehabilitation process early in the hospital stay, monitored patient progress and length of stay, and provided appropriate discharge placement. Retrospective chart reviews were performed over a 4-year period, and the data were collated on a yearly basis. Over a 4-year period, 414 Medicare patients demonstrated a steady decline of initial hospital length of stay from 7.0 to 4.6 days. During this same period of time, there was a decline in total hospital charges from $14,076 to $10,740 per patient. This represented a total dollar savings in charges of $1,621,296 (approximately $453,000 per year). The mortality rate for 1994 was 4.6%, with 46.5% of survivors discharged to home, 16.9% to acute rehabilitation, and 32.6% to nursing homes. The implementation of a multidisciplinary acute stroke program decreased length of stay and hospitalization costs of Medicare patients.