Prehabilitation has been shown to improve postoperative outcomes in a variety of patient populations undergoing major operations. The feasibility, generalizability, and value of broad implementation of prehabilitation outside the research environment are unknown.

Medicare claims data from 2014 to 2017 were used to conduct a multicenter (21 Michigan hospitals) pragmatic cohort study. Patients and controls were followed for the duration of their index surgical hospitalization and for 90 days postoperatively. Medicare beneficiaries older than 18 years who underwent inpatient surgical procedures at a participating hospital during the study time period were eligible for inclusion. The prehabilitation program involved a home-based walking program with supplementary education on nutrition, smoking cessation, and psychological preparation for surgical procedure. Data were analyzed with an intention-to-treat approach using t-tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Propensity score matching used comorbidities and demographic factors to match controls to patients in a 2:1 manner with an exact match required for operation type.

Patients (n = 523) and controls (n = 1,046) had no significant differences in demographic factors or comorbidities. Patients had significantly shorter median hospital length of stay (6 vs 7 days; p < 0.01) than controls and were more likely to be discharged to home (65.6% vs 57.0%, p < 0.01). Total episode payments were significantly lower for patients compared with controls ($31,641 vs $34,837; p = 0.04). Patients had significantly lower post-acute care payments for skilled nursing facility ($941 vs $1,566; p = 0.02) and home health ($829 vs $960; p = 0.03) services.

Participation in a prehabilitation program in Michigan was associated with shorter length of stay and lower total episode payments after operation. Payers and hospitals should invest in the implementation of simple home-based prehabilitation programs.