Prescreening cardiothoracic surgical patient population for post acute care services.

For the postoperative cardiothoracic patient, the first 2 weeks during recovery is the most difficult time. Initiating discharge planning at the earliest opportunity aids in identifying those patients at risk for functional status disability. The purpose of this study was to examine the results of a pilot preadmission screening program to determine whether cardiothoracic surgical patients could be accurately identified for postoperative needs during preadmission testing.