The bill, the Medicare Transitions Act of 2009, would create a nationwide network of community-based transitional care coaches who would help Medicare patients self-manage their condition and medications over time, provide personal follow-up care and serve as an access point when patients change care setting, according to the release.
The bill also calls for the creation of collaborative community-based structures — new organizations and existing health systems — that would serve Medicare beneficiaries who are considered a high-risk for hospital readmissions and receive reimbursement through achievement of quality outcomes and hospital readmission reduction targets.
One out of every five Medicare patients released from the hospital is readmitted within a month, and three quarters of these readmissions are preventable, according to the release.
Read about the Medicare Transitions Act of 2009.
