Strategies For Reducing Readmissions in Hospital Settings

 

It has been estimated that nearly 20% of Medicare beneficiaries get readmitted into a hospital within 30 days of discharge. The cause of readmission varies among patients. However, it raises serious concerns about the preventable consequences the patients are exposed to due to the readmission.

Hence, nurses and healthcare practitioners need to adopt several strategies to implement hospital readmission reduction programs that have been proposed to reduce the rate of readmission.

The purpose of the hospital readmission reduction programs is to help patients avoid the adverse effects linked to hospitalization such as the exposure to viruses and bacteria. The preventable hospital readmissions also create a huge burden on the taxpayers as it increases expenditure on healthcare facilities and Medicare claims.

Hence, there is a need for healthcare reforms aimed at reducing healthcare costs that could be achieved to a great extent by decreasing preventable re-hospitalizations.

It is also necessary to emphasize that healthcare providers should not and cannot deny admission to patients when surgical or medical situations require in-patient care. However, at the same time, a large number of cases of unintended readmissions could be reduced by implementing healthcare reforms. 

These initiatives are aimed at improving the overall quality of healthcare facilities and supporting patients during the transition from hospital to home.

Some of the reform strategies aimed at reducing hospital readmission include the following:

·         Identify patients who are at risk for readmission and provide training and support to them during transition after discharge.

·         Educate patients about their illness, possible triggers, and healthy lifestyle choices to help them avoid worsening of their symptoms.

·         Utilize medication reconciliation, which is a process of comparing the medication orders of the patient to all the medications the patient has been taking. This is expected to prevent drug-related adverse events that could be a cause of readmissions after discharge.

·         Prevent acquired infections due to catheters, central lines, or surgical wounds.

Several such initiatives can be adopted and implemented by hospitals to reduce readmission after discharge.

Here’s an opportunity for you to learn more about reducing readmissions.Attend the ‘2 NURSING CONTACT HOUR LIVE WEBINAR ON REDUCING READMISSIONS AND THE ETHICAL CHALLENGES’ on 14^th October 2020 at 6 pm.

This webinar is conducted by ATECAM LLC, an approved provider of NCPD (Nursing Continuing Professional Development) by the Nurses Association Approver Unit in the Pennsylvania State.

The contact hours awarded after attending the webinar will be good for nurses outside of Pennsylvania also.

This webinar is aimed at educating nurses about the common challenges faced by them while working in hospitals and healthcare facilities. We will focus on issues like the high rate of hospital readmission, which is considered a key quality measure of healthcare services given it represents potentially preventable adverse consequences.

 You will get an opportunity to talk to our panel of expert physicians and ask questions.

Join the webinar to learn how to overcome the common challenges faced by nurses and healthcare practitioners due to hospital readmissions and ethical issues posed due to unaffordable diagnostic methods.