An early discharge clinic at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health cut the average length of stay for patients with hematologic malignancies by 10.2 days, according to a study published May 19 in JCO Oncology Practice.
Northwell researchers evaluated and compared outcomes of 112 patients across 191 clinic enrollments in 2023 and 2024 with historical patient outcome data.
Here are three notes from the study:
- Eligible patients were identified during inpatient admissions and selected for early discharge based on clinical stability, supportive care needs and readiness for frequent outpatient follow-up.
The clinic’s model included nine operational pillars, with performance tracked across utilization, timeliness of care, safety and efficiency measures. - Among all enrollments, there were no unplanned readmissions within 48 hours of discharge and only 11 unplanned readmissions within seven days. No outpatient deaths occurred.
- The clinic’s early discharge model reduced average hospital length of stay by 10.2 days, which translates to a 39.7% reduction when compared with historical controls.
Read the full study here.
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