Frank L. Walter

Success of clinical pathways for total joint arthroplasty in a community hospital.

Clinical pathways for total joint arthroplasty have been implemented successfully during the past decade. We report the results of pathway use for primary elective total hip and total knee arthroplasty in a community teaching hospital. We evaluated pathway efficacy using patient data forms and the hospitals financial database. Before instituting the pathway, the average length of stay was 4.41 days for patients having total hip arthroplasty and 3.92 days for patients having total knee arthroplasty. The average length of stay for patients having total hip arthroplasty decreased to 3.24 days and to 2.98 days for patients having total knee arthroplasty. Press Ganey Survey results showed high patient satisfaction rates before and after pathway initiation. Pathway implementation did not lead to increased complication rates or readmissions. Despite higher expected increases in the overall healthcare cost during the time of implementation (3 years), direct cost increases were limited to 3.48%. The key elements contributing to pathway success included preoperative patient education, standardized orders derived from evidence-based medicine, and a nurse practitioner who championed the pathway and ensured compliance. We recommend clinical pathways for patients having total joint arthroplasties to reduce length of stay, facilitate effective resource use, and preserve quality of care without compromising patient satisfaction or safety.Level of Evidence: Level III, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Erratum to: 6-week radiographs unsuitable for diagnosis of suspected scaphoid fractures (Arch Orthop Trauma Surg, (2016), 136, (771-778), 10.1007/s00402-016-2438-4)

Wint, John M. Erickson, John McAuliffe, John T. Capo, John Taras, Jose A. Ortiz, Julie Adams, Karl-Josef Prommersberger, Kevin M. Rumball, Kyle D. Bickel, Lior Paz, Lisa Lattanza, Louis Catalano III, M. Jason Palmer, Marc J. Richard, Marco Rizzo, Maurizio Calcagni, Maximillian Soong, Megan M. Wood, Michael Baskies, Michael Behrman, Michael Darowish, Michael Nancollas, Michael W. Grafe, Michael W. Kessler, Miguel A. Pirela-Cruz, M. P. Bekerom, Naquira Escobar Luis Felipe, Nathan Hoekzema, Oleg M. Semenkin, Patrick W. Owens, Philip Blazar, Ralph M Costanzo, Ramon de Bedout, Renato M. Fricker, Richard L. Hutchison, Richard S. Gilbert, Rick Papandrea, Robert R. Slater, Robert R. L. Gray, Ryan Klinefelter, Ryan P. Calfee, Sander Spruijt, Sanjeev Kakar, Saul Kaplan, Seth Dodds, Stephen A. Kennedy, Steven Beldner, T. Apard, Taizoon Baxamusa, Thomas G. Stackhouse, Todd Siff, W. Arnnold Batson, Warren C. Hammert. Erratum to: Arch Orthop Trauma Surg (2016) 136:771–778 DOI 10.1007/s00402-016-2438-4