Readmission rates have been dropping steadily, but links between rates and demographics could make it tough to make big strides
Two out of every ten New Jersey Medicare patients return to the hospital within a month of being discharged. This number is a significant reduction from over the past four years. Studies show that even though the number of readmissions is dropping, a significant change seems hard to achieve because of correlation between readmission rates and demographics.
Healthcare Quality Strategies Inc. released data that showed a drop in the rate of patients readmitted to hospitals in the state of New Jersey. The data was broken down by county and showed that 20 percent of patients return to the hospital within 30 days.
Last year nearly every hospital in New Jersey was penalized by Medicare for having too high readmissions.
Hunterdon County, which has the highest median income and the second largest non-hispanic white population in New Jersey has the lowest readmission rate, below 17 percent. On the other hand, Hudson County which is much more diverse and economically challenged is the county with the highest readmission at 24 percent.
The data shows a trend where better communication is implemented in the hospital and post-acute care facilities with the patients, even the counties with the higher readmission rates can lower their numbers.
After digesting the data the New Jersey Hospital Association knows that it still has a long way to go to ensure that every county has lower readmission rates regardless of diversity or economic situation.
For more information and the full article follow the link provided.
http://bit.ly/16jqRca
Written by Brandon Kassof
No comments:
Post a Comment