BACKGROUND Length of stay beyond medical readiness (LOS-BMR) leads to increased
expenses and higher morbidity related to hospital-acquired conditions. OBJECTIVE To
determine the proportion of admitted neurosurgical patients who have LOS-BMR and
associated risk factors and costs. METHODS We performed a prospective, cohort analysis of
all neurosurgical patients admitted to our institution over 5 mo. LOS-BMR was assessed
daily by the attending neurosurgeon and neuro-intensivist with a standardized criterion …

The economic impact of healthcare spending has become a major point of discussion in the
contemporary United States. 1, 2 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2018 national
health expenditure projections estimated payments to rise annually by 5.4% to reach 6.2
billion dollars by 2028. 1 This growth was expected to be greater than a concurrently rising
United States gross domestic product (GDP), bringing expenditure percentage relative to
GDP from 17.7% in 2018 to 19.9% in 2028 with expansions in the Medicare and Medicaid …