Outpatient housing following kidney transplantation.

The purpose of this article is to describe the efforts of a medium-sized kidney transplant program in the southeastern United States to reduce the inpatient length of stay by moving toward the outpatient arena, thereby reducing the overall cost of the transplant experience. An outpatient transplant unit was created to house patients who were medically stable but still required further monitoring and education prior to being discharged. The development and implementation of the transplant outpatient unit significantly reduced inpatient length of stay following kidney transplantation from 14 to 5 days. The benefits and outcomes of the transplant outpatient unit were impressive.