Hospital readmissions (and how to reduce them) is a topic on the forefront of everyone’s minds. They have become an outcome in healthcare, with particular interest paid to their frequency, causes, patients' readmittance likelihood, and which hospitals are more likely to have a high rate of readmissions. Higher readmission rates may suggest the patient received ineffective treatment during past hospitalizations. The focus on reducing hospital readmissions for Medicare beneficiaries has expanded to include post-acute care providers. Skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies are now financially incentivized to ensure effective transitions and care coordination to minimize readmissions within 30 days of discharge. This means their Medicare payments may be reduced if a patient they care for is readmitted to the hospital shortly after entering their care.
Patients with the highest readmission risk rates are those that have significant comorbid conditions (patients with cancer, pneumonia, cardiovascular diseases, etc.). They also include patients with frequent falls and emergency room visits or those that live alone or with little support in the home. Identifying these patients up front and providing a top-heavy plan of care in place is essential.
The continuum of care – our practice of partnering multiple disciplines for a patient upon discharge – alleviates those readmissions and ensures better outcomes. A client’s personal care can become that much more effective by adding home health care, palliative care, or hospice care services. A comprehensive and coordinated team is better able to notice signs of worsening symptoms such as potential infections and pain management issues to advise proper treatment. Identifying early signs of UTIs, for example, can eliminate a visit to the emergency room by getting the patient into the patient’s primary care physician before the infection worsens.
If you have seen our care outcomes, you know we’ve focused heavily on this topic. Care Advantage, Inc. boasts a 26% reduction in emergency room utilization and a 52% reduction in inpatient utilization compared to our peer baseline group. Our highly-trained caregivers and personalized clinical model have a proven track record of improving health outcomes, reducing emergency room visits, and decreasing hospital readmissions.
Personal care WORKS for alleviating readmissions! Let Care Advantage, Inc. be part of your discharge plan and help us reduce readmission rates!
