The report cites the following facts from AARP’s Public Policy Institute: one in five Medicare beneficiaries is re-hospitalized within 30 days of discharge, and one in three is readmitted within 90 days; more than 20 percent of older people suffer from five or more chronic conditions that account for 75 percent of total Medicare spending — mainly due to high rates of hospital admission and readmission; and Medicare spends an estimated $17.4 billion in annual readmission costs.
Therefore, it’s important transitional care be improved so an adverse event or readmission is less likely, according to the report.
In the report, Kate Weiland, program officer for Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative and an expert on transitional care, offered the following six ways that patients can improve the likelihood of safe, effective transitions:
1. Schedule and go to follow-up appointments with your physician
2. Talk to your physicians or pharmacist about how to take your medications
3. Find out if your hospital offers home visits or makes follow-up calls
4. Use added services your hospital provides, including free transportation to follow up appoints and Meals on Wheels
5. Involve those taking care of you at home in conversations throughout your care
6. Make sure you understand your discharge instructions
More articles on infection control and clinical quality:
Michigan hospital says its inclusion on Medicare penalty list for high infections was a mistake
Administering morphine to children for pain may prove deadly
Mysterious polio-like virus continues to stump physicians
