Overview

• The findings were published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons as an article in press and were presented at the American Geriatrics Society 2025 meeting in Chicago.
• Across the cohort aged 65 or older, 11.2% of patients were discharged to a post‑acute care facility after surgery, with most discharges occurring after inpatient procedures.
• Hospital performance varied substantially, with 84 hospitals classified as low outliers and 119 as high outliers, while about 60% performed as expected.
• Among the top‑risk quartile of patients, 32.9% were discharged to post‑acute care, indicating a concentrated opportunity for targeted intervention.
• Discharge to post‑acute care is associated with poorer outcomes and adds more than $5,000 per case, and researchers point to screening, prehabilitation, targeted perioperative physical therapy, and ACS Geriatric Surgery Verification as actionable strategies.