Researchers looked at a sample of hospitals participating in the American College of Cardiology and Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Hospital to Home Quality Improvement Initiative to find changes in readmission reduction strategy adoption.
There were nine readmission reduction strategies that saw a significant increase in implementation.
1. Partnering with other hospitals to reduce readmissions – 34 percent
2. Ensuring patients had a follow-up appointment prior to discharge – 16.6 percent
3. Tracking percentage of discharged patients with follow-up within seven days – 33.5 percent
4. Tracking percentage of patients readmitted to other hospitals – 58 percent
5. Formally estimating readmission risk – 53.7 percent
6. Using electronic forms for medication reconciliation – 11 percent
7. Having patients “teach back” their clinical instructions to care providers – 17 percent
8. Giving heart failure patients action plans to manage conditions – 14.9 percent
9. Calling discharged patients to follow-up on needs or provide extra information – 13.5 percent
Here are five readmission strategies that did not see a significant increase in implementation.
1. Patients or care givers receive information about medication purpose and dosage
2. Alerting outpatient physician of patient’s discharge within 48 hours
3. Sending discharge information to primary care physician
4. Assigning someone to follow-up on test results ready after patient is discharged
5. Conducting a nurse-to-nurse report if transferring patient to skilled nursing facility
Researchers suggest hospitals’ lack of these readmission reduction interventions may contribute to the slow rate of improvement for readmission numbers and more hospitals should implement such strategies to improve transitions out of the hospital.
More Articles on Readmissions:
364 Hospitals Have Above-Average Medicare Readmission Rates, New Data Shows
When Readmission Programs Fail, What’s Next?
Comorbidities Most Common Cause of Readmissions
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