Pathway patients sat out of bed and ambulated sooner
and had a 3.3 day shorter LOS than standard care patients
which was consistent with findings reported by Choong et
al (2000) even though the differences in the mean scores
on these variables were not statistically significant.
However, we believe this result demonstrates a trend that
may prove beneficial from the perspective of bed
availability and cost. At an approximate cost of Aus$600
per in-patient day, a reduction of 3.3 days in LOS would
represent a saving of $1,800 per patient episode. The
reduced LOS in this group of patients would also increase
the availability of beds for emergency and elective waiting
list patients.