January 8, 2013 | Mark Woodka
January 8, 2013 | Mark Woodka
Since October the 1st hit, I’ve been bombarded with stories, briefs, presentations, newsflashes, and water cooler discussions about impact of unnecessary rehospitalization across the long-term care and senior living industry. One thing is for certain, it is a big deal. Why? Because the hospitals are the big dogs, the gate keepers, in the continuum of care that most patients pass through before ending up in one of the various post-acute care settings. If it affects them, it’s certainly going to affect everyone else. So I decided to weed through all the now available fodder and get the facts. Let’s get started with the definition:
And now to the stats…
60% - top range of hospitalization of SNF residents in any given year. The range is between 25%-60%. (JAGS 2002; vol 48, 154-167)
90% - readmissions that are unplanned appear to be the result of clinical deterioration. "We estimate that about 10% of rehospitalizations were likely to have been planned," Dr. Jencks and colleagues said. (2009, New England Journal of Medicine).
75% - readmissions considered preventable, adding $12 Billion/yr. to Medicare spending, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPac).
44% - top range of emergency room transfers that were identified as inappropriate (avoidable), citing poor care in the nursing homes. (JAGS 2002; vol 48, 154-167)
25% - Medicare beneficiaries discharged from the hospital to a SNF that are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days. (MedPAC)
It’s no surprise that most of the organizations have launched initiatives to improve this situation. AHCA wants to lower readmissions by 15% by March 2, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. (not sure if 12:01pm will be acceptable). Partnership for Patients, a national public–private initiative, wants to reduce this 20% by 2013. Many state organizations have followed suit by setting similar standards.
But let’s face it, it’s easier said than done. To truly be effective, here are some areas that are getting focus across the entire care spectrum.
I’ll continue to build on these topics in the coming weeks.
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About Mark Woodka
Mark Woodka is CEO of OnShift and has over 25 years of experience in enterprise software sales and marketing, having worked for startup organizations as well as Fortune 500 companies. He often leverages his extensive background in technology-enabled process improvements speaking at industry conferences as well as authoring articles on long-term care trends and issues.
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