One of five Medicare
beneficiaries discharged from the hospital is readmitted within 30 days, according to
the Commonwealth Fund. Half of patients admitted for reasons other than surgery are
readmitted without having seen a doctor in follow-up. The study
appeared in the latest issue of the New
England Journal of Medicine and shows these hospital readmissions cost
Medicare $17.4 billion in 2004. Wow.
Heart
failure readmissions account for the biggest chunk of that. Our new
Hospital-to-Home (H2H) initiative with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
(IHI) could mean savings on a massive scale for heart failure and coronary artery disease. H2H aims to
reduce preventable readmissions by 20 percent by
2012 for HF and CAD. We’ll give hospitals and physicians tools and strategies to help educate
patients and ensure they follow up with physicians, adhere to medications and improve
outcomes in the outpatient setting.
H2H got major
media attention at ACC.09, resulting in great early coverage:
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