Historical and Forecasted Changes in Utilization of Same-day Discharge after Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy

Study Objectives: To describe changes in length of stay and same-day discharges (SDDs) after minimally invasive hysterectomy (MIH) over the last decade and forecast anticipated utilization over the subsequent decade. Design: Cross-sectional analysis. Setting: American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Patients: All benign MIH excluding joint cases with concomitant nongynecologic surgery in the 2011 to 2019 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program datasets, identified by Current Procedural Terminology code. Interventions: A descriptive analysis of changes in the estimated length of stay and utilization of SDD from 2011 to 2019. Multivariable negative binomial regression assessed for individual-level risk factors for prolonged hospital stay and autoregressive linear forecasting estimated the growth of SDD through 2029. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 239 220 MIH were identified. Over the 9-year period, SDD increased by 10.7% across all MIH. However, in 2019, SDD represented only 29.8% of total MIH discharges and utilization varied by surgical approach (laparoscopic hysterectomy, 35.4%; vaginal hysterectomy, 18.6%; laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy, 19.6%) and a surgical indication of pelvic organ prolapse (32.7% without and 13.9% with prolapse). Multivariable models controlling for patient characteristics showed independent associations of route and indication for MIH and length of stay (adjusted relative rate, 1.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29–1.32 for vaginal hysterectomy, and adjusted relative rate, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.11–1.14 for prolapse); however, these individual-level factors provided limited information explaining variation in the length of stay (model pseudo-R2, 0.054). Forecasting models suggest that utilization of SDD will grow to 48.5% (95% CI, 38.7–58.4) by the end of 2029. Conclusion: Although the estimated length of stay is decreasing among MIH over time, the utilization of SDD remained low in 2019 and was not explained by patient factors. If current trends hold, SDD utilization is not forecast to exceed 50% through 2029. Additional efforts focused on the provider and institution level are needed to encourage SDD as the standard of care for MIH.