title: Total knee pathway weds acute care, rehab.
abstract: The cross-continuum pathway at St. David's Medical Center in Austin, TX, has allowed case managers to reduce length of stay by four days and cut rehab costs by $300 per day by stressing early mobilization of patients and an aggressive regimen of physical therapy (PT). Because patients are expected to undergo as much as six hours of PT per day, only about half of St. David's total knee population is appropriate for the pathway. These consist of healthy older adults with few medical complications who had been somewhat active prior to surgery. Based on the pathway, case managers helped create St. David's Progressive Orthopedic Program, which allows acute care and rehabilitation nurses to work more closely in screening patients and smoothing the transition from the hospital to the outpatient setting.
mesh_terms: D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000592:standards*; D019090:Case Management; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D019091:Critical Pathways; D006757:Hospital Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011383:Progressive Patient Care / Q000592:standards*; D013781:Texas