Establishing a home care protocol for early discharge of patients with hip and knee arthroplasties.

Joint arthroplasty procedures are significant in number and cost. Discharging hip and knee arthroplasty patients early from the hospital to a transitional home care program has the potential to reduce costs, while maintaining quality. A retrospective review of hospital records of hip and knee arthroplasty patients quantified patient problems during postoperative days 3 through 12 and analyzed them by age, gender, and joint type. The pilot study also allowed the development of a protocol for transitional home care after hip and knee arthroplasty.