Program reduces hospital readmissions rate

More than one in seven Medicare patients aged 64 and older who are discharged from hospitals nationwide are readmitted. To reduce the readmission rate in New Haven, Yale researchers developed and tested a large-scale program and found it cut readmissions by 9%.
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More than one in seven Medicare patients aged 64 and older who are discharged from hospitals nationwide are readmitted. To reduce the readmission rate in New Haven, Yale researchers developed and tested a large-scale program and found it cut readmissions by 9%.

The research team enrolled more than 10,000 older high-risk patients in a readmission reduction program. The program offered interventions such as personalized transition support, education, follow-up telephone calls, and links to community resources. The researchers then measured the patients’ rate of readmission to the same hospital within 30-days, in comparison to control groups.

Although modest, the 9% reduction in readmissions was maintained over two years. “Our analysis revealed a fairly consistent and sustained but small, beneficial effect of the intervention on the target population as a whole,” said the authors.

Authors include Grace Y. Jenq, Margaret M. Doyle, Beverly Belton, Jeph Herrin, and Leora Horwitz. The study was published in April 11 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

(Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

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Ziba Kashef: ziba.kashef@yale.edu, 203-436-9317