Same-Day Discharge for Patients Undergoing Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy Is Safe and Feasible: Results of a Pilot Study

Introduction: With healthcare reform, cost and patient satisfaction will directly affect hospital reimbursement. We present data on same-day discharge (SDD) for patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP). Methods: Patient data were gathered in an IRB-approved database. In April 2015, the surgeon (S.J.) began SDD. The SDD protocol for RALP includes multimodal anesthesia/analgesia and extended recovery. Interim analysis revealed that government insurance (CMS) refused hospital reimbursement for SDD. As of that time, only patients with commercial insurance were offered SDD. The demographic and peri-operative data were compared between the two cohorts (Group 1, SDD; Group 2, Admitted patients) by using Mann-Whitney U, chi-squared, or fisher exact tests, where appropriate. Results: During the study period, 21 patients had undergone RALP. Eleven of 21 patients were offered SDS, and nine (81.8%) were discharged. Both those who elected to stay were successfully discharged on the next day. Patient age, body mass index (BMI), prostate-specific antigen, operative time, estimated blood loss (EBL), prostate weight, distance from home to hospital, margin status, marital status, and household income were not statistically significantly different between the two groups. The same is true between patients who underwent RALP both before and after initiation of the SDD protocol with the exception of EBL (greater in the SDD group). There have been no reported complications or readmissions for any of the patients in Group 1. Conclusion: Our novel pilot study reveals that SDS is safe and feasible. We are currently conducting a further evaluation of patient satisfaction. Future research is needed to verify these conclusions.