Early SLP Involvement in Postoperative Tracheostomy Care Significantly Reduces Hospital Costs

OBJECTIVES: To examine the role of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the postoperative care of tracheostomized patients and determine if earlier involvement of SLP with tracheostomized patients results in earlier decannulation, reduced hospital length of stay (LOS), or reduced hospital costs. METHODS: Data including time from tracheostomy placement to SLP consult, time from tracheostomy placement to tracheostomy decannulation, and hospital LOS were collected on all patients who underwent open tracheostomy at an academic tertiary care center between January 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024. RESULTS: Shorter time to SLP consult was associated with shorter time to decannulation (p < 0.0001) and shorter hospital LOS (p < 0.000001). Conversely, each day earlier that SLP consultation occurred was associated with a 1.39-day shorter LOS and an estimated cost savings of $1039.30 per day on the medical-surgical floor, $1581.10 in the intermediate care unit, and $2221.00 in the intensive care unit. CONCLUSION: Early SLP involvement in tracheostomized patients' care benefits the patient and hospital system by hastening safe decannulation, reducing LOS, and lowering costs. These findings are limited to patients undergoing open surgical tracheostomy and may not be generalizable to percutaneous tracheostomy populations.