Impact of an inpatient advanced practice provider on hospital length of stay after major urologic oncology procedures

Introduction: Although timely hospital discharge is a complex and multifactorial process, this metric is consistently a focus for hospitals and health care systems. It also has been a long practice that the American Urological Association (AUA) supports the use of advanced practice providers (APPs) as an integral member of the urological care team. Materials and Methods: Here, we performed a preliminary evaluation of the effectiveness of an inpatient APP in reducing hospital length of stay (LOS) following major urologic oncology procedures. Surgical outcomes, surgeon data, and LOS for open and minimally invasive urologic oncology procedures, including radical prostatectomy, partial or radical nephrectomy, and radical cystectomy, were compiled over a 4-year period (pre-APP: 2014-2016 and post-APP: 2018-2020). Univariate descriptive statistics analyzed the association of an inpatient APP in with reducing hospital LOS over time. Results: Average LOS decreased in all surgical procedures and for all surgeons in the post-APP setting, irrespective of surgical approach (P< 0.05). Conclusions: An inpatient APP was associated with a decrease of hospital LOS for urologic oncology patients over time. Such observations underscore the likely economic benefit to the health care system and potential improved coordination of care and satisfaction for patients undergoing major urologic oncology procedures.