Introduction
Many organizations worldwide often strive to provide high-quality services, including health care systems. Notably, hospital readmission has remained dominant in conversations about health care, and this idea is presently the standard used to assess hospitals’ proficiency. A healthcare organization seems inepter the greater the readmission rates. Hospital readmission may refer to patients returning to the hospital after being released. Many disputes have grown more heated over the issue of hospital readmission, and as a result, hospitals’ competency has come under scrutiny. Concerning hospital readmissions, several arguments are emerging from the healthcare sector. This essay, therefore, discusses hospital readmission as an area that requires improvement and the strategies for the improvement.
Main body
Unnecessary readmissions are a clear sign of a fragmented healthcare system since they frequently result in patients who have been released from the hospital being unsure of how to take care of themselves at home, unable to follow directions, and unable to receive the essential follow-up treatment. A system with limited resources must also bear the high expense of readmissions, with Medicare alone reporting spending $17.8 billion annually on patients who should not have needed to return to the hospital. Reducing readmissions may save expenses while delivering better care that keeps patients in their homes longer and improves their outcomes. Thus, it will contribute to improved results and lower healthcare expenses.
Healthcare facilities should identify high-risk patients who are likely to have higher readmission rates. There is an increased risk of hospital readmission for specific patient categories with higher readmission rates, such as heart failure and heart failure. Socioeconomic factors such as payer status, income, and race correlate with hospital readmission rates. With this information, healthcare professionals may take further measures to reduce the likelihood of readmission for high-risk patients. It could also entail sending the patient to a physician for additional treatment or including the patient and family members in post-discharge care recommendations.
Additionally, ensuring hospitals have the proper nurse staffing levels is one way to reduce readmission rates. Higher staffing numbers allow nurses to spend more time with each patient, resulting in more thorough communication. This frequently improves the standard of discharge instructions given, which may assist avoid future readmission. Unfortunately, hospital administrators are unaware of how challenging it is to find and keep skilled nursing personnel. Given this, nurses must concentrate on the clinical responsibilities for which they have been educated.
It has also been demonstrated that receiving high-quality transitional care reduces hospital readmissions. Physical therapy, nutritional counseling, and food planning, rehabilitative, therapeutic, and other services can all be a part of transitional care. Patients with chronic or complicated diseases can benefit most from these treatments. According to a study published in the BMC Health Services Research journal, patients who received a nurse visit were referred to an exercise program and had a mobile follow-up were 3.5 times less likely to experience unscheduled readmission 28 days after discharge than patients who did not receive any of these transitional care services.
Finally, arranging a 7-day follow-up with the patient’s primary care physician is another tried-and-true method that can assist hospitals in reducing their readmission rates. According to a recent JAMA research, patients who adhered to this 7-day strategy had a 30-day readmission rate of 12.7%, compared to 17.5% for patients who waited longer or neglected to follow up with their physician. Programs like the 7-Day Pledge can ensure that patients follow up with their primary care physicians, who can assist the patients with medication reconciliation, evaluation of their discharge plan, and provision of any extra information required for a seamless care transfer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, human life should be treated with dignity, and chances of loss must be eliminated. However, increased hospital readmissions are viewed as costly, so there is a need to reduce the readmission rates. These include strategies such as identifying high-risk patients, proper nurse staffing levels, high-quality transitional care, and arranging 7-day follow-ups with the patients discharged.