Friday, December 14, 2007

Ummmm...I work in a hospital CME office...

If you do, then check out this excerpt from the Wall Street Journal article "Keeping Patients from Landing Back in the Hospital":

There are about five million readmissions a year in U.S. hospitals, with approximately a third occurring within 90 days of discharge, according to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a Boston-based nonprofit. But with so-called transitional-care programs, which follow patients for varying periods of time at home, as many as 46% of readmissions could be prevented, says Pat Rutherford, an IHI vice president.

The institute is working with hospitals to reduce readmissions. Its programs include: identifying patients at risk for return, scheduling follow-up doctor's appointments before patients are discharged, sending nurses to patients' homes within a few days of discharge, monitoring patients at home, and educating patients and families on how to adhere to medication schedules and self-care regimens.

Then march down the hall to Medical Staff Services and introduce yourself! Click here to access the article (sub. req.).

No comments: