In 2021, Medicare spent 8% of its budget — or $57 billion — on post-discharge care. But according to Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and a Forbes contributor, it would be more cost-effective to refocus pre-acute care.
Reducing the "medical crisis that leads to hospitalizations and the inevitable need for follow-up skilled nursing care in facilities or at home" could alleviate some of the nursing home and staff shortage issues, Mr. Gleckman wrote in a March 5 article for the publication.
Of Medicare's post-acute spending, about half of post-acute care costs went to skilled nursing facilities, nearly one-third to home health care and the rest to long-term care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, according to the article.
Many of the diseases that lead to hospitalizations could be better treated beforehand, Mr. Gleckman wrote. For example, weight gain is a sign that congestive heart failure may be worsening, but if patients are not weighed regularly, the symptom can be missed, resulting in hospital visits down the line.
Here are four ways to provide pre-acute care and prevent hospitalizations, according to Mr. Gleckman:
- More accessible primary care.
- Better patient communication about diagnosis and disease management.
- Better coordinating care between physicians, systems and insurers.
- Addressing social determinants of health.