What's the hold up? Factors contributing to delays in discharge of trauma patients after medical clearance

BackgroundOne area of potential savings in healthcare spending is the identification of nonmedical delays in discharge. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with discharge delays.MethodsAll patients admitted to our trauma center over a 1-year period with a social work consult were retrospectively evaluated to identify delays in discharge after medical clearance.ResultsOver half of our patients experienced a delay in discharge. Age was not associated with delay in discharge. Higher injury severity score, intensive care unit admission, and hospital length of stay greater than 1 week were all associated with increased delays in discharge. Other factors such as disposition to a rehabilitation/nursing facility and mechanism of injury were also associated with a nonmedical delay.ConclusionsWe have identified nonmedical factors associated with delays in discharge. Strategies using these data could be used to improve discharge planning and may help decrease healthcare costs.