Recently, CMS published data on the readmission rates for hospitals as part of an ongoing effort to make transparent quality indicators from which hospitals could improve healthcare delivery. A recent U of MN study which just wrapped shows how focusing on patients at risk of rehospitalization can cut those potential costs by directly screening for and averting those risks in the nursing home following discharge.

One of the study participants, Theresa McCarthy MD (under whom I once trained), hails the results as they apply to future cost savings in geriatric care. By utilizing a transitional care team made up of the geriatrician, pharmacist, and critical ancillary staff, rates of readmission from patients in this particular care facility fell by 20 per cent. Not only are unnecessary costs averted, potential lives are saved (as many readmitted elderly may become sicker and more susceptible to preventable problems once back in the hospital), but new treatment paradigms are also possible. Smart. | LINK

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