"I got more instructions on how to take care of a goldfish I took home from the pet store as a kid than we give some people we send home from the hospital."

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, hospitals are focusing on efforts to reduce the 4.4 million hospital stays that are potentially preventable readmissions. This adds over $30 billion to our nation's annual health bill and is $1 of every $10 spent. One of the main reasons for the push is that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be reducing reimbursements to hospitals with the highest readmission rates.

In April, Medicare announced $500 million in grants for organizations that work with hospitals to reduce re-admissions. The government is funding an effort to help hospitals adopt Project RED, a discharge-planning program developed by Boston University that helped cut re-admissions at Boston University Medical Center by 30% in a 2008 study.

One of the main culprits is poor preparation for patients leaving the hospital and little follow-up by the hospital after discharge. Victor Caraballo, senior medical director of Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphi says, "I got more instructions on how to take care of a goldfish I took home from the pet store as a kid than we give some people we send home from the hospital." His organization is providing $5 million for a patient-safety initiative with 70 hospitals. Their goal is  to reduce re-admissions 10% by next spring.

The first cuts to reimbursement from Medicare reimbursement cuts will focus on congestive heart failure, heart attack, and pneumonia. These areas account for the majority of re-admissions due to complications and poor compliance. According to Medicare the 30 day re-admission is 19.9% for heart attack, 24.7 for heart failure, and 18.3% for pneumonia.

To read the entire article, go to The Wall Street Journal.

Other articles on this subject:
Improving Transitions to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
3 Readmissions to Reduce Now
AHRQ Press Release: Educating Patients Before They Leave the Hospital Reduces Readmissions, Emergency Department Visits and Saves Money