Affordable Care Act’s Provisions to Reduce Preventable Medicare Patient Hospital Readmissions are a Continued Success

The Affordable Care Act put several programs into place to curb Medicare beneficiaries readmission rates. The readmission rate, a measurement of how many patients are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of initial discharge, is viewed as an indicator of the quality of care a hospital provides. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that the average avoidable readmission rate for Medicare beneficiaries under 18% from January - August 2013. This is less than the 19% readmission rate that was the standard for the previous five years.  A 2012 study found that readmission rates were on a decline in 2012. The 2013 preliminary claims data combined with the 2012 data results in an estimated 130,000 fewer hospital readmissions from 2012-2013.

CMS attributes the decline in readmission rates to the improved care programs such as community-based care transition plans and payment incentives such as the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program helped foster. 

More information on the CMS blog is available here. The study that determined Medicare readmission rates had a meaningful decline is available here. Information on the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program is available here. 

AHRQ Releases Patient Safety Organization Tools

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) launched a resource program for Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) that wish to assist hospitals in reducing unnecessary readmissions. This program is in response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which designates PSOs as an entity that can help hospitals with high readmission rates improve their performance, and calls for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to support PSOs in this work.

To obtain additional information about this program, including the provisions in the ACA legislation and available readmissions resources, please go to: http://www.pso.ahrq.gov/readmin/readmin.htm

Source: AHRQ News Release

ONC Launches Health IT Challenge to Improve Hospital Discharge Care

The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced a Discharge Follow-Up Appointment care transitions challenge – the second as part of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Investing in Innovation (i2) Initiative. With the support of Health 2.0 and Partnership for Patients, ONC launched the Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge in support of ONC’s Investing in Innovation (i2) program.

The i2 Initiative is a bold new effort to spur innovations in health IT. The program utilizes prizes and challenges to facilitate innovation and obtain solutions to intractable health IT problems. Aligned with the Obama administration’s innovation agenda, i2 is the first federal program to operate under the authority of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010.

The challenge aims to stimulate the use of simple, information technology-enabled processes and tools to make transitions easier and safer for patients, caregivers and providers, particularly when a patient is discharged from a hospital. The first health IT challenge, Ensuring Safe Transitions from Hospital to Home , called upon developers to create a web-based application that could empower patients and caregivers to better navigate and manage a transition from a hospital.

The scheduling of follow-up appointments and post-discharge testing before leaving the hospital helps ensure safer and more effective transitions. Unfortunately, most patients across the country continue to leave the hospital without confirmed appointments and many providers remain frustrated by a highly manual and unreliable system. The Discharge Follow-Up Appointment challenge will focus on promoting effective care transitions.

“This challenge is an enormous opportunity for software developers to develop solutions, and pursue models that can be adopted across a community,” said Farzad Mostashari, M.D., Sc.M., national coordinator for health information technology. “Scheduling post-discharge follow-up appointments is critical, but not easy for patients or providers and we’re excited by the possibilities that will stem from this challenge.”

For additional information about ONC or on the i2 program, visit http://HealthIT.HHS.gov.

For more information about Health 2.0, which helps support the i2 challenge program, visit www.Health2Con.com .

For more information about Partnership for Patients, which also supports the i2 challenge program, visit http://www.healthcare.gov/compare/partnership-for-patients/index.html .
F
or more information about U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Recovery Act programs, see www.hhs.gov/recovery.

Source: HHS News Release

Project Boost Aims to Curb Hospital Readmissions

In an attempt to reduce the number of preventable readmissions, hospitals are turning to program called Project Boost.

Project Boost was developed by the Society of Hospital Medicine. The project integrates the better collection and communication of information at patient discharge to avoid logistical and psychosocial problems that may lead to a patient's readmission.

Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta has reported decreased readmission rates since implementing the program.

To read more about Project Boost, click here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/21/AR2011022102949.html?hpid=sec-health


Source: Washington Post