Characterization Of Hospitalized Patients With Residual Disability: Does Home Durable Medical Equipment Setup Requirements Represent A Barrier To Discharge?

Abstract

Background: With advancing age, increased susceptibility to injury and illnesses occur. The resulting physical disabilities often require home durable medical equipment (DME). Items such as hospital beds and Hoyer lifts require assembly in the patient's home. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of home DME setup on efficient hospital discharge in trauma and non-trauma patients. Method: We retrospectively analyzed the records of 1,415 trauma and non-trauma patients requiring home DME over 30 months at an urban level-1 trauma center. We evaluated hospital length of stay (LOS) and DME-related costs between groups as our primary and secondary outcome measures. Other variables studied included demographics, injury patterns and admitting diagnoses.